Pedal to the Metal
by Air Force Muffin
Summary: When Jackson Crossley found out that he was a demigod at age 14, his life changed. Thrown into the middle of the second Titan war, he faced the challenge of choosing which side to take. This is his story.
1. Chapter 1: I'm a what?

Introduction:_ This is a story set mainly from the point of view of an OC character of mine. Some of the other characters in this story are from the books, but the story will be mostly OC-populated. This is going to be a story chronicling the life of Jackson Crossley as he finds out that he is a demigod and thrown into the middle of the Second Titan War. This story is rated T for swearing and nothing else. There is violence, but it isn't too graphic. If anyone is interested in my OCs, you can request background information on them, and I will happily provide information. Enjoy the story! Please review! Happy reading!_

Chapter One

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

There's a whole lot more to this world than an ordinary mortal thinks there is. My name is Jackson Crossley, and I've had a lot of experience with the non-mortal stuff, like gods and monsters and fights for the fate of Western Civilization and other stuff like that. But there was a time in my life when I didn't know about any of the stuff that's happened to me. It all started on my fourteenth birthday.

~_Begin_~

I was lounging at the dining table in my house. At the table with me were my three friends: Trey, Adam, and Stan. We had just returned from a baseball game at Fenway Park, where the Boston Red Sox had won a close game against the Texas Rangers by the score of two to one. I had been enjoying an all-around great day. And why wouldn't I have been? Today, June 29th, was my fourteenth birthday.

I didn't know it yet, but in a matter of hours, my world was about to change forever, for the better or for the worse.

{_Line Break_}

My mom came into the dining room, holding a birthday cake. After the requisite singing of "Happy Birthday," my friends and I all dug in. The mood was how it should be on a birthday; carefree and cheerful. That was about to be ruined by Adam, my affable but yet socially inept friend.

As we ate, Adam spoke up. "You know, it's really crappy of your dad not to come on your birthday."

I raised my eyebrow as I swallowed a mouthful of cake. "What are you talking about? My dad's here. He's in the next room."

Adam shook his head. "I'm talking about your… um… you know… your _real_ dad."

A nauseous feeling washed over me, and I looked down at my plate with my appetite suddenly absent. I knew exactly who Adam was talking about. My biological father. I had never seen him in my life, and I wasn't in any hurry to meet him, either. He'd left my mom shortly after I was born, and never returned. He didn't even send any child support payments. He just walked out and never came back. I don't call him my father. A father is someone who loves their child and helps them grow up. My biological father never did that.

These thoughts ran through my mind in a split second before I pushed them out. It was my birthday. I wasn't supposed to think about depressing things on today, of all days.

Adam seemed to pick up on my freefalling mood and looked ashamed. "Sorry, man. That was way too insensitive of me. Are you okay?"

I speared my fork into my slice of cake. "I'm fine," I answered quickly. Adam looked down and an uncomfortable silence fell over the table. My throat tightened, and I suddenly couldn't swallow.

Stan put his hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture. "Look, it's a shitty thing to have a dad who doesn't show up on your birthday, but remember, you have a stepfather who is a better father than your biological father could ever hope to be."

"Plus, you have your mom, and us," Trey added.

The tightness in my throat dissipated, and my mood began to uplift. "Thanks, guys. You're right. I really should just forget about him. He's not worth thinking about, especially not today."

Stan patted me on the back. "That's the spirit."

We went back to eating our cake.

{_Line Break_}

Later, when we were finished with our cake, in the living room, I was in the middle of examining my birthday present from Trey, which was the new Mario Kart Wii game, when the doorbell rang.

I looked up at my mom. "Are we expecting anyone else?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"I'll go see who it is, then," I said, and walked out of the room and into the foyer. I opened the door and looked out, and was greeted by the sight of nothing.

"Hello?" I called.

My voice echoed up and down the empty street, but no answer came. I surveyed the area, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. There was nobody hiding behind a bush and giggling, or running down the street, to suggest that I was being pranked. Then I looked down, and saw a package on the doorstep. Strange. I hadn't heard the mail truck come. I picked it up and squinted at the printing on the side of the box, cursing my dyslexia. After several seconds, the letters formed themselves into a word that I could read. It said 'Hermes Express' on it. What? What was Hermes Express? That made no sense. I looked around.

"Hello?" I called again, but no answer came. Then, suddenly, a red Chevrolet Corvette started up at the end of the street and pulled out in a screech of tires. I watched its circular red taillights disappear before closing the door and bringing the mysterious package inside.

"Who was it?" my mom asked, back in the living room.

I shrugged and held up the unknown package. "I don't know. This package was on the doorstep, but I don't know who put it there."

My mom took the package. "This is from FedEx? I didn't hear the truck."

I shook my head. "It's not from FedEx. It says 'Hermes Express' on it."

My mom looked confusedly at me. "I don't know what you're talking about. This package is from FedEx."

Trey picked up the package. "Are you feeling all right, Jackson? This package doesn't say 'Hermes Express' anywhere on it." Adam, Stan, and my mom nodded in agreement, and they all stared at me.

I stared back at them. What was going on? I could read the package as plain as day, and it said 'Hermes Express' on it. I couldn't see the words 'FedEx' anywhere on it. Something was up here. I decided to put it down to just my dyslexia. "Sorry, guys. My stupid dyslexia must be acting up. Of course it says FedEx." I picked the package back up and set it down on the coffee table.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Open it," Adam urged.

"All right, then. Here we go." I slit the tape holding the box shut and opened the cardboard flaps. Inside, wrapped in white tissue paper, was a pair of pristine black Nike sneakers. I held them up. "Check it out."

"Sneakers. Nice," Trey commented.

"Who gave them to you?" Stan asked.

I looked in the box. "I don't know. There's a note."

"Read it," he urged.

I unfolded it and started to

_Dear Jackson, _the note began. _I know that I haven't been there for any of your birthdays. I know that I haven't seen you since you were a year old. There is no way that one pair of shoes is going to make up for that._

_Was this package from my biological father?_

_ Instead, this pair of shoes is simply a birthday present. Things will start to change in your life very soon._

I snorted. The first thing that popped into my head was the video on puberty that my class watched in sixth grade. That stuff had already started. Whoever this was, they were a little late to tell me that.

_These shoes will be a faithful companion through your journey. If you are ever in danger, just clap the heels together and yell "Hiyah!" like Bruce Lee in those movies you watch. Do not tell any of your friends about the last sentence._

The note was starting to get creepy. How did he know that I used to watch Bruce Lee movies? I kept reading.

_Ask your mom tonight to tell you about your dad. Tell her that the protections I placed on you thirteen years ago are no longer enough to keep him safe. Tell her that you need to go to the camp. Do not tell any of your friends about this, but please, PLEASE tell your mother. She will know what to do. Sincerely, _

_Your father. _

I was now officially freaked out by the note. I looked up from the note. "It's- the shoes- they're from my father. My real one," I said shakily.

My mom's eyes widened, but Adam, Trey, and Stan just looked angry. Adam spoke up. "Well, that's no excuse for not showing up at your son's own birthday! Let me see that note," he said. He took it out of my hands and scrutinized it. His frown deepened. "I can't even read this- how did you read that?" he asked, thrusting the note back into my hands.

I looked at it. "I can read it."

Adam shook his head. "Well, I can't. That's the worst handwriting I've ever seen."

I examined the shoes. "Well, they are nice sneakers…" My mom was reading the note. "Mom, are these shoes really from my real dad?"

She put the note down. "I recognize his handwriting. These shoes are from him. Jackson, we need to talk about your father, later on."

Before I could ask why, Trey lifted up my new video game. "Let's forget about your dad for now. Who wants to play Mario Kart?"

"Me," Adam and Stan chorused. They looked at me.

"You coming, Jackson?" Adam asked.

I looked at my mom, and then at my friends. I badly wanted to know more about my biological father, but my friends took priority right now. I stood up. "Coming."

"Let's go!" Trey said, starting down the stairs.

I followed him, along with Adam and Stan. My biological father could wait for a few hours. I'd waited for him for a few years.

{_Line Break_}

Hours later, long after my friends had left, my mom sat me down at the kitchen table with some leftover cake to talk about my real dad.

"Jackson. I need to know everything that your father told you on this note," she said.

I stared at her. "I thought that you said that you could read that."

She shook her head. "I actually can't read a word of this. But you can, because your brain is hardwired to read that language."

"What?"

She sighed. "I'll explain that later. Just tell me what he said. This is important."

"Okay…" I picked up the note. "He said that things would start to change in my life very soon…"

She nodded. "Go on."

"…And that these shoes would be a faithful companion. He said that if I was in danger, I should clap the heels of those sneakers together and yell "Hiyah!" but I don't know what the hell that's supposed to do. This guy already seemed like he was in the looney bin though, so I'm not surprised-"

"What else did he say?" my mom asked sharply.

She's worried about something. She only acts tense like this when she's worried. "He also said that I should ask you about him."

"I'll tell you about him later. What else did he say?"

I looked at the note again. "He said that the protections that he placed on me thirteen years ago aren't enough to protect me anymore."

She sucked in a breath.

"Do you actually believe this guy? He sounds like one of those spiritual kooks who predict the end of the world every other year. I mean, really- _protections?_ What protections? Green tea?"

She closed her eyes. "Anything else?"

"Well, he said that I had to go to the camp, whatever that means."

That must have been bad news, because she leaned back in her chair, the color draining out of her face. Abruptly, she stood up. "I'll be right back." She walked up the stairs and into her room.

What was she doing? I grabbed a glass from the kitchen, went up to her room, and pressed the glass up against the door with my ear on the glass. After a couple of seconds of silence, I heard water running, and then my mom said something that made no sense at all.

"O Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, answer my call and show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood."

Nothing in that sentence made any sense at all. Iris was the name of a girl in my class, but she certainly wasn't the goddess of any rainbows. Who was Chiron, and what was Camp Half-Blood? And why was my mom talking to him? Nothing tonight was making any sense. The mysterious letter from my dad, my mom's behavior, and the pair of sneakers. The three of them added together made for a mystery that Scooby-Doo himself would have a tough time cracking.

The sound of the water running increased, mostly drowning out her voice in the bathroom. The only thing I could hear was disjointed snippets of conversation, which made no sense at all.

"My son… sneakers… soon… protections… camp…. hurry…"

Suddenly, the conversation cut off, and my mom opened the door. "How much of that did you hear?" She asked.

"Um… Not enough?"

She sighed. "Come back downstairs. I have a lot to explain."

"Huh?"

She started back downstairs."You won't believe much of what I say at first, but you have to believe me."

"Okaay…" I said. We sat back down at the kitchen table. I picked up another piece of cake and took a bite. "So, what do you want to tell me?"

"Jackson, do you know about the Greek Gods?" she asked.

I blinked. "You mean… like Zeus and Hermes and Ares and all those guys?" Thunder rumbled outside. "What was that?"

My mom looked nervously at the ceiling. "Try not to throw those names around so easily. Names have power."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She plowed on. "The Greek Gods… They're all real."

I blinked. "Um… What?"

She sighed. "The Greek Gods are real. They control most of the forces behind our lives."

I looked at her, and she matched my gaze. "You know, it's awfully cruel to play a joke on someone on their birthday. I'm not going to fall for it. I appreciate the humor, though. The problem is that this whole Greek God stuff is simply too outlandish for me to fall for. What, is the Minotaur going to jump out at me and say 'Boo!'?"

She froze and clamped her hand over my mouth, and looked around the room like the Minotaur was actually going to jump out of nowhere. "_Don't say that!_" she hissed.

"What? Seriously, you're taking things too far. I'm not falling for it. Joke's over . You can stop the camera. Very funny. Ha-ha. Now, please, I'd like to enjoy my cake in peace."

She kept that same deathly serious look on her face. My grin slowly faded. "You are joking, right?"

Her face didn't budge.

"You…You aren't joking? But then that means-"

She nodded.

"No. There's no way. That's just not possible. You're joking."

She shook her head.

"You actually aren't joking?"

"What do you think?" she responded.

"You aren't joking," I decided.

The relieved look on her face sealed the deal. She actually wasn't joking.

"So… The Greek Gods are real? But why are you telling me this?" I asked. Mom paused for a second, and I took a sip of my lemonade.

Bad idea.

"Jackson, you are a child of one of the Greek Gods," she deadpanned.

In a classic scene straight from Cartoon Network's glory days, I spewed a mist of pink lemonade all over the kitchen table. Mom barely noticed.

"_What?!_" I asked.

"You heard me."

"Wait. So if I'm the child of a god, then… what- how-"

Mom cut in. "I had the child with your father. I'm your real mother, but I don't know which god your father was. He told me that he was a god, but he didn't tell me which one."

"So… You're saying that I am the child of you and an immortal god, which makes me…?"

"A demigod."

"What?"

"Half-god, half-human."

I sat back. This was too much to take in. I was the child of a fucking _god_. A thought occurred to me. "Wait. If my dad was an immortal god, then how come he couldn't find the time to visit me? A little contact would have been nice. I am his _son_, after all."

My mom looked at me sadly. "There are ancient laws that dictate what the Greek Gods can and cannot do when it comes to their own children. Continuous direct contact with their children is not something that the Greek Gods can do."

"I see," I said, even though that was the exact opposite. Just what the hell were these so-called ancient laws?

"Your father hasn't been as disconnected from you as you might think, you know," my mom continued. "He visited you several times when you were very young. He stayed right by my side right up until I had you."

"But he left."

"Yes, he left," my mom sighed. "The ancient laws kept him from having any more contact."

"You know, he could have been lying about those ancient laws," I pointed out. "Maybe he didn't want to be saddled with the burden of a kid."

Her face hardened. "He wasn't lying. I just know this."

"Are you sure?" I questioned. "He could have tricked you or something."

Her eyes flamed. "Jackson Michael Crossley! Trust me on this! I knew him for more than a year before he left! He was not lying about ancient laws!"

I held up my hands. "Okay, I believe you." I was going to need to look the ancient law thingies later.

She relaxed. "Thank goodness. Moving on, he also put protections around you when you were a year old. That was his last visit ever."

"So… then those protections that my dad gave me; what were they protecting me from?"

"Monsters."

I blanched. "Monsters?"

"Monsters like hellhounds, the gorgons, and other bloodthirsty monsters from Greek history. They're all real, as well."

"And those… protections were protecting me from those monsters?" I clarified.

Mom nodded. "They were, until today, when they became too weak to mask the scent of a demigod."

"Hold on. Back up. The scent of a demigod?"

"All demigods have a scent that monsters, to some degree, can track," she explained.

I reached for my glass of lemonade. "Don't drop anymore bombshells for a minute, all right?" I asked my mom. "I'd like to have this lemonade without having it all over the kitchen table." I took a quick sip. "All right. Carry on. Does dad know? I mean my current dad."

"He knows as much as I've told you so far. He would know more, too, but the Mist gives him problems."

"The what?"

"The Mist. It's a magical veil that shields the world of Greek Gods from the eyes of mortals. Anyone linked to the Greek Gods can see through it. That's why the mortals think that the Greek gods aren't real anymore."

I nodded for what must have been the millionth time this evening. "Well, now here's my big question. Why are you telling me all of this? Does this have anything to do with the camp that my dad mentioned in his letter?"

She looked out the window briefly. "Yes."

"How so?"

"Demigods are hunted by monsters on an almost daily basis if they remain out in the mortal world. Because of that, they have to go to Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp what now?"

"Camp Half-Blood. It's the only safe place on earth for demigods. It has magical borders that protect you from the monsters that roam the earth, looking for demigods. It's in Long Island, New York."

I took another bite of cake. "And you want me to go there?"

"Yes. There isn't a choice, really. You need to go there to be educated about the world of the Greek gods, and learn to defend yourself against monsters, and learn how to use your powers."

I swallowed my cake. "No choice, huh? How do I know this isn't all a big practical joke? Or-"

Mom interrupted me. "Jackson, stop right there, and please understand this. I am not lying. This is not a practical joke. The Greek gods exist."

I shrugged. "I'm not saying that I doubt you. I just need to see it to believe it. Show me a Greek God, and I'll show you a believer."

She nodded. "I understand. You'll definitely believe it when you see what the pickup team comes in."

"When the what comes?" I questioned.

"There's a pickup team coming from Camp Half-Blood to bring you to camp safely."

"Okay." Either this was a practical joke being taken ridiculously far, or it was real. I elected to play along.

"What are they coming in?"

"Pegasi."

"Pegasi?" I asked, confused.

"Pegasi. As in, the plural of Pegasus."

"You mean like the horses with wings? No way," I said. "You're kidding."

She smiled. "You'll just have to see it to believe it."

A thought occurred to me. "Can you tell me about what my father was like?" I asked.

A faraway look came into Mom's eyes. "Back when I was in my twenties and still living in Idaho, I was one of the best dirt racers around. Nobody had ever beaten me in a race. Until one night, in a small town somewhere south of Boise, I met him. He was a dirt racing champion, and he was the only person that I could not beat. His name was Michael."

"Wait a minute- my middle name is Michael," I interrupted. "Did you name my middle name after him?"

She looked off at something in the distance. "Maybe I did… and maybe I didn't…" she mused, her eyes still fixated on the space out the window. She straightened and focused her eyes on me again. "That's a story for another time," she declared firmly. "Back to the story of your father." She picked up the story where she left off before I could ask what she meant.

"Over several months, we became close friends and racing partners. After four months of trying, I finally beat him in a race. That night, he asked me if he could have the privilege of being my boyfriend. We were together for another five months before I found out that I was pregnant, and that's when Michael panicked and told me who he really was. He never actually revealed which god he was, but he told me that demigod children are in danger for most of their lives. Once demigods start realizing who they are, monsters can detect their scent. He said that for your own safety, he had to leave. He put up protections that would keep you relatively safe until your fourteenth birthday. After that, you would need to go to Camp Half-Blood."

I still felt mad at my dad for leaving and not visiting me, but also, I felt a surprising sense of slight affection towards him for putting up protections before leaving. Of course, all the stuff about protections and ancient laws could be bogus. If it was bogus, then my dad would have a lot to answer for.

Mom got up and looked out the window. "They still aren't here yet. Why don't you go and pack for camp?"

"Sure." I started up the stairs to my room, but then something occurred to me, and I stopped. "Wait. What about my friends? I can't just leave in the middle of the night. They'll get suspicious."

"I'll call their parents in the morning and explain that you're going to a summer camp. They probably won't be suspicious."

I was pretty sure that their parents wouldn't ask any questions, but I was more worried about Trey, Adam, and Stan getting nosy. Oh, well. It wasn't like I could do anything now.

Upstairs in my room, I laid down on my bed and fully processed what my mom had told me. If she was telling the truth, then I was the child of a powerful immortal being. If she was telling the truth, then every single thing that I had ever read about Greek mythology was real. I just couldn't believe it. I used to struggle through fantasy novels, even with my dyslexia, because I loved to read those stories, and I would wish that they were real, and that I could be in those worlds. If Mom was telling the truth, then I just got my wish. I would be thrown into an entirely new world, full of mysterious things that I previously thought impossible. I had special powers that I could learn to use. I was not an ordinary mortal. It was like a dream come true.

Could I deal with this? I sat there for a few more minutes, contemplating the repercussions in my world that this news was having. It was just too much to take in. I needed a good night's sleep to process it.

Finally, I sat up and started packing. After taking my backpack out of my closet, I looked around. I definitely needed a couple changes of clothes, my toothbrush, and my Motorola Razr cell phone. It wouldn't be a bad idea to bring my pocketknife, either, or some cash. I took my Red Sox cap off its hanger in the closet and put it in as well. I zipped up my backpack and turned to leave, but then I saw the pair of black Nike sneakers from my dad lying on my bed.

_If you are in danger,_ _clap the sneakers together and yell 'Hiyah',"_ he had said.

I looked down at my perfectly good pair of white sneakers under my bed. Oh, what the heck. I picked up the black sneakers. Even if they didn't do anything special, they were still nice shoes. I came downstairs and stopped. There were two boys and a girl sitting at the kitchen table with my mom.

My mom looked up at me. "Jackson, this is the team they sent from camp."

I nodded. "Okay. Cool." Where were the adults?

The kid on the left side held out his hand. "I'm Jake Mason. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Jackson Crossley." I shook his hand and looked at the boy and the girl. "And you guys?"

"I'm Percy Jackson," the other boy said. We shook hands.

I looked at the girl. "And you?"

"I'm Annabeth Chase," she answered. I shook her hand as well.

After the introductions, I looked at Percy and Annabeth. "So, are you two like, a couple or something?"

They both looked shocked and blushed ferociously. Jake nearly fell off of his chair laughing. "Gods, no!" Annabeth exclaimed. "What would give you _that _idea?"

"Well," I started, "You and Percy are sitting so close to each other that your shoulders are touching, and Jake looks like a third wheel over there." Jake snorted.

Still blushing, they immediately scooted away from each other. I smirked. "So I take it that you aren't a couple, then?"

"NO!" Annabeth snarled.

My smirk slid off my face. I might have offended her. "Right. Sorry. Should we get going?"

Jake stood up. "He's right. We should get moving." The four of us and my mom walked to the door. As we stepped outside, I turned to face my mom.

"Well, mom, I guess I should say goodbye. Tell Dad that I said goodbye, as well."

She smiled and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you at the end of the summer… hopefully."

How cheerful.

"Tell the guys that I said goodbye to them as well."

She turned, and I saw a small tear in her eye as she closed the door. I turned and faced the three other demigods. We were now standing on the street in the middle of the night. "Well, now what?" I asked.

Percy pointed across the street. "There's our rides."

I followed his finger, and when I saw it, my jaw went south. "Uh- uh- Are those actual-uh- whatsit- _Pegasus?_"

"Yup," Percy said. "It's 'pegasi' if there's more than one, by the way."

On the other side of the street were two honest-to-goodness winged, majestic, Pegasi. One of them was pitch-black and the other was chestnut brown. They were both shifting their legs and gently flapping their wings. They were real. Every single doubt that I had had until now were shattered. It was all real. The Greek Gods were real. I was the son of one of them. My fantasies were coming true. I sank to the ground.

"Are you all right?" Jake asked concernedly.

I swallowed. "It's just… a lot to take in. I didn't fully believe it, until now. I just… Wow. It's real?"

They all nodded.

"And I'm- _I'm_ the child of one of them?"

They nodded again. I slowly stood up again. "Well, let's go. I can't wait to see what else you guys have to surprise me with." We crossed the street to the Pegasi. I walked up to the chestnut one and laid my hand on it. Wow. I could feel the muscles under it. I closed my eyes, and I could just imagine this Pegasus in midflight, beating its wings…

Jake interrupted my daydream. "Jackson, we got to get moving." He climbed onto the pegasus that I was admiring. Percy and Annabeth were already on the other pegasus. "Hop on," Jake said.

I started to sling my leg over Jake's pegasus, when I heard a low growl that made me freeze. "Um… Did you guys hear that?"

Percy must have heard it, because he had a sword in his hands and was scanning the darkened street. Where he got the sword, I didn't know. The growl came again, but louder. Annabeth unsheathed a dagger from her belt. Jake pulled a sword out as well. The three of them stared out at the blackness. Me? I was trying to decide whether I should get on the Pegasus or off the Pegasus. The growling thing made that decision for me. Seconds later, a black dog the size of a rhinoceros came leaping out of the shadows.

"A hellhound! Jake, Jackson, get in the air NOW!" Annabeth yelled.

I hurriedly started trying to climb on the pegasus, but he had other ideas. He took off before I could get a solid foothold, knocking me to the ground. Behind me, I heard a very loud growl. I slowly turned around and found myself face-to-face with an impressive set of razor-sharp teeth. "Nice doggie," I whispered, scooting away. The dog took another step forward. Well, I was screwed. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the pitch-black pegasus dive-bombed the dog, knocking it backwards and giving me enough time to scramble to my feet and run towards Percy and Annabeth.

"Are you all right?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I gasped. "I'm just a little shaken up because, you know, I almost became a goddamn giant doggie treat!"

Percy patted my back. "Cheer up. At least you didn't have to face the Minotaur."

I stared at him. "What?"

Before Percy could answer, the black pegasus screamed.

Percy's face paled. "Blackjack!"

I turned and saw the Pegasus lying on its side. The giant dog was standing over it. What had Annabeth called it? Oh, right. A hellhound.

I stared at the hellhound. If that was the sort of monster that hunted demigods on a daily basis, then the reasons for going to Camp Half-Blood were suddenly crystal-clear.

Percy, and Annabeth, and I were on one end of the street. The hellhound and Blackjack were on the other end of the street, a quarter of a mile away. Jake was still up in the air, trying to calm the panicked pegasus. Blackjack was still on the ground, but the hellhound wasn't interested in him. It turned to look at us with glowing eyes. It backed up and pawed its feet on the ground.

"It's going to charge us," Annabeth whispered.

I looked down at my shoes. My dad's words in the letter came back to me.

"_If you are ever in danger, just clap the heels together and yell, "Hiyah!"_

Well, the situation I was in probably qualified as danger. "You guys might want to back up," I said to Percy and Annabeth. Annabeth looked at me. "What-" she started to say, but before she could finish, I clapped the heels of the black sneakers together and yelled "Hiyah!" before I could talk myself out of the stupidity of it. Then, to my complete and utter astonishment, the shoes exploded outwards in a swirling mass of black, and suddenly, I was sitting in the driver's seat of a _car._ I also had no shoes on, which meant that- "Holy flying fuck, my shoes can turn into a freaking _car_," I muttered. Percy and Annabeth had been thrown back by the car expanding, and I could see the looks of massive confusion on their faces. "Jackson, what-" Annabeth was cut off by the sound of a low growling voice.

_Hello, master,_ it said.

I looked around. "What- who?"

_I am Charles, a lieutenant to your father. He sent me to help you arrive at camp safely. I have sworn to serve you faithfully, by your side._

"But where-?"

_I am the car itself. You have the power to talk to them."_

"You're name's Charles?"

_That's not important right now. There's a bloodthirsty hellhound that's going to kill you unless you kill it first._

I stared at the dashboard in disbelief. "What do I do?"

_I would suggest turning on the car and running over the hellhound._

"But I can't drive!"

_Just try it. It will be like second nature to you._

Well, why not? It wasn't like I had anything to lose. I turned the key, which was already in the ignition, and started the car. The engine awoke with a smooth purr. I put the engine into drive and put my hands on the steering wheel and my foot on the accelerator. "Wish me luck, Charles."

_I am._

I took a deep breath, and floored the pedal. The engine roared, and the car leapt forward, eating pavement down the avenue. The hellhound was growing bigger every second. I was going to hit it dead on, which would hopefully kill it. My eyes flicked to the speedometer. I was doing nearly sixty miles an hour. Yup, that hellhound was going down. As the car approached the hellhound, time seemed to slow down. "Brace for impact, Charles," I muttered. There was no response. Exactly one second later, I slammed into the hellhound. Or, rather, through it. It burst into a cloud on golden dust on impact, causing almost no loss in momentum. The end of the road was coming up awfully fast.

Charles' calm, yet forceful voice broke through. _Brake!_

Without thinking, I slammed on the brakes and spun the steering wheel to the right. As a result, I did a perfect one-eighty and stopped with the car facing the other way. I sank down in my seat.

"Wow."

_That was rather impressive, young hero. I believe that you have some friends that you need to pick up._

I looked down the street. Percy, Annabeth, and Jake, along with the two pegasi, were looking at my car with flabbergasted looks on their faces.

"Thanks, Charles."

_Anytime. Care to tell me your name? _

I started back down the street towards the others. "My name is Jackson. Jackson Crossley."

**A/N: What do you think? Please review this story. I encourage and welcome reviews. Feel free to ask questions. Thank you! Air Force Muffin out.**


	2. Chapter 2: An interesting car ride

Chapter 2:

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**Hey, tips and feedback on the first chapter are appreciated, because this is my first fanfic. Enjoy the chapter.**

_**Italics **_**mean that Charles the car is talking.**

Chapter Two

I brought the car to a stop at the end of the avenue and got out. Percy, Annabeth, and Jake were still staring at the car.

"Jackson… where did that car come from?" Annabeth asked.

"I… don't know."

"Wait. Hold up. This car isn't yours?" Percy asked.

"No! I mean, I think it's mine…" I explained to them how I had gotten the shoes.

"A a pair of shoes that can turn into a car … Can it turn back into a pair of shoes?" Jake asked.

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly. "Let me try." Maybe doing what I did before would work. I yelled "Hiyah!", and the car shrank back into a pair of sneakers that flew back onto my feet. It worked.

All three of them looked stunned.

"Well, if your father cares enough to give you something like that, then he probably cares enough to claim you." Jake said.

"What do you mean, 'claim?'" I asked.

Jake started to reply, but Annabeth cut him off. "We can talk about Jackson's parentage later. Right now, we have a bigger problem. Blackjack's injured. He can fly, but he can't take anyone with him. Porkpie is fine, but he can't fit four people on his back. We're stranded here unless-" She faltered and looked at me. "Can you turn your shoes back into the car?"

"Sure," I replied. "Just step back." I clapped the heels and yelled, "Hiyah!" The car swirled out around me. I turned it on and rolled down the window. "Here it is! Get in."

Percy said something to the pegasi, and they flew off into the night. He started to get in, but then he stopped. "Um," he said, "Can you _drive_?"

I shrugged. "Sort of. It might be bumpy at first, but I bet I can learn on the job."

Percy didn't look all that convinced, but he got in, so I guess he trusted me enough. He and Annabeth got in the back, and Jake elected to sit in the front with me. I looked back at Percy and Annabeth. "You guys buckled in?"

They nodded.

"Right," I said. "Everyone; buckle up and sit back. Enjoy the ride." I started up the car and surveyed the dashboard. "Right. Uh…" It was an automatic transmission, which meant that I could get it going straightaway. I pressed down on the gas pedal, and the car jolted forwards. "Whoa!" I slammed down on the brakes. The car jerked to a halt.

"Enjoy the ride?" Jake asked sarcastically.

"Yep," I said, without missing a beat. I pressed down again on the gas pedal, softer this time. The car moved forward, slowly at first, and then climbing to road speeds. I looked over at Jake. "So where is Camp Half-Blood, anyway?" I asked.

"Long Island, New York," he answered.

"No, I mean, what's the address? How do I get there?"

"Um, well… I'm not sure. We took pegasi over here."

I sighed. "Well, I'm guessing we should go south, and then, uh- any ideas, Charles?" I directed my last question to the car.

_Try the satellite navigation system._

I laughed. "Of course!"

Jake looked at me strangely. "Who are you talking to?"

"The car."

"No, really."

"I was talking to the car. The car can talk to me. I don't know how I'm doing it, but I can understand the car," I insisted.

"Oh," Jake said. "You know," he continued thoughtfully, "I think I you could be a son of Hephaestus."

"Isn't he the god of machines and stuff?" I asked.

"That could explain the shoes and your ability to talk to cars," Jake said. "While rare, it isn't unheard of to have children of Hephaestus who can talk to machines."

"Hephaestus sounds cool, I guess," I remarked, as I turned the GPS on. I used the voice recognition system. "Directions to Camp Half-Blood?"

The GPS hummed. "There are no addresses matching that."

"Great." I looked at Percy and Annabeth in the back. "Do you guys know the address of this place?"

"Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road 3.141, Long Island, New York 11954," Annabeth supplied.

"Perfect." I tried again with the GPS, and this time, it showed a genuine address.

"Proceed to the end of the street and turn left," the GPS droned in a computerized voice.

I started up the car, and we were on our way.

{_Line Break_}

After a few turns and directions, I was becoming comfortable with driving quickly. It felt strangely like second nature. Really, it was like learning a language that you've learned before but since forgotten.

The GPS piped up again. "In two miles, turn right."

I looked at the road in front of me. "Hmm… Looks pretty straight. It's the middle of the night. There's nobody around. Boston gets pretty quiet at night sometimes. You know what I'm thinking? Let's give it a little _oomph_."

"What are you going to- OH MY GODS!" Percy screamed. He screamed the last part after I pressed down hard on the gas pedal. The engine thundered, and we blasted down the street, hitting sixty miles per hour before four seconds, which shouldn't have been possible in the car I was driving. That was Ferrari Enzo speed, and I was driving a Dodge Charger. The momentum shoved me back into the seat, and I heard Jake yelp, but I barely noticed. The power… the speed… it was intoxicating.

"Whoooooo!" I yelled, punching my fist in the air.

"Are you crazy?!" Percy yelled. "Slow down!"

"You'll kill us!" Jake squeaked.

"We're going to crash!" Annabeth screamed.

"Turn right," the GPS intoned.

I chose to listen to the GPS and hit the brakes, pulled the steering wheel to the right, and prayed to whoever the Greek god of drifting was that we wouldn't end up wrapped around a stop sign. The car slid smoothly through the intersection without so much a wobble and came to rest on the road. I stared at the steering wheel. "What-"

_You are quite the natural, Jackson. Trust your instincts._

"Thanks," I muttered to the car. Percy and Annabeth were hyperventilating. Jake was clinging to the door for dear life. "Holy Hephaestus," he whispered.

The GPS seemed unfazed. "In one-point-two miles, keep right to take the onramp onto the interstate."

"You guys all right?" I asked. "I'm sorry about that. I could've driven us into the side of a house at fifty miles an hour. That was pretty stupid of me."

Jake nodded weakly. "Don't beat yourself up about it. We're all fine. Just try to concentrate on getting us to camp alive."

I started the car up again. This time, I kept it slow until we reached the highway.

{_Line Break_}

I coasted the car up the onramp and was greeted by the sight of a deserted highway.

"If you guys aren't buckled up yet, buckle up now, because we're going to speed up a little." I looked at Jake. "You buckled?"

"Yup."

"Are Percy and Annabeth buckled?"

Two _clicks _from the back answered my question.

"Well, here we go." I warily pushed down on the gas pedal. The car responded well, pushing up to forty miles an hour. I kept the speed climbing until I reached seventy, where I leveled off. The speed pushed me back into my seat and felt exhilarating. I had rode in cars at this speed before, but the feeling of _driving_ a car at highway speeds was a whole different ballgame.

"Wow," I whispered.

To be safe, I slowed down to sixty miles an hour and turned on the cruise control, since the highway was deserted. We drove in silence for several minutes until Jake spoke up.

"You seem to be taking this whole Greek God stuff well," he remarked.

"Yeah, my mom filled me in on the basics." He didn't respond, and the car lapsed into silence again. After several more minutes, I looked over at Jake. "So you guys are demigods?" I asked.

He nodded.

"So who are your godly parents?"

"Hephaestus," Jake said.

"Athena," Annabeth said.

"Poseidon," Percy said.

"Oh. Okay. Cool." I sort of knew who Hephaestus was, and I knew that Athena had something to do with wisdom, and I was pretty sure that Poseidon was the sea god.

"Poseidon's the sea god, right?"

"Yeah," Jake answered.

"So does that mean that Percy can, like, I don't know, breathe underwater?"

"I can," Percy said from the backseat.

"Wait, really?"

"I can also control the water and heal myself with it," he continued.

I shook my head. "Man, that sounds amazing. Is there any chance I'm a son of Poseidon?"

"No, not really," Percy said.

"Why?"

Annabeth jumped in. "After World War Two, the Big Three- that's Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades- made an oath not to have any more demigod children, because they were interfering too much in the lives of mortals. World War Two was basically a fight with children of Zeus and Poseidon on one side and children of Hades on the other. Poseidon fell off the wagon with Percy, as you can see," she explained.

"Did Zeus or Hades break their oaths?" I asked.

"Zeus broke his oath nineteen years ago and had a daughter named Thalia. She- well, it's a long story. She was found again just last Saturday."

"What do you mean, _again?_"

"Like I said, it's a _long story_," Annabeth said, giving the distinct impression that she didn't want to talk about it.

I didn't ask again. Once again, quiet fell. I was starting to get tired of the awkward tension in the car. I shifted my eyes to Jake. "So, how old are you guys?"

"Fifteen. Percy and Annabeth are thirteen. What about you?"

"I'm fourteen. Today was my birthday."

Jake nodded, and then he asked an odd question. "Have you been kicked out of any schools?"

"No, why?"

"It's a demigod thing. Most demigods have ADHD and dyslexia and are troublemakers."

I shook my head. "I've been in the same school system all my life. My friends and I don't get in trouble much. I mean, I do set off an abnormally large number of car alarms off, and naturally, that makes most adults suspicious of me, but I haven't had any really bad incidents that got me kicked out of school. Although, once…" I stopped.

"Not to be inquisitive or anything, but what were you going to say?" Jake asked.

"Well," I began, "it was one of my weirdest experiences ever. I was walking through a parking lot on my twelfth birthday, and all of a sudden, every single car alarm in the parking lot went off, and, I swear to god, they were playing the freaking '1812 Overture.'"

Jake looked at me with wide eyes. "Are you joking?"

"No, I'm not. I got in a crapload of trouble, because I ended up getting accused of setting off all of the car alarms myself. I got suspended from my school for a couple of days for that. But that's the closest I've ever been to being kicked out of a school."

"Even if you haven't, demigods are usually pegged as troublemakers. Percy is a prime example of that. He's been kicked out of a few schools."

Before I could ask just how many a 'few' schools were, Jake turned to the backseat. "Any ideas on who Jackson's godly parent could be, Annabeth, from what we've heard so far?"

"It sounds like it could be Hephaestus," Annabeth responded. Jake nodded, but then Annabeth continued. "There is also, well, V-"

Jake cut her off. "It can't be him. Otherwise, Jackson wouldn't be here right now."

"Who?" I asked.

"It's nobody, really," Jake said. "There's no way that he can be your dad, at least. No one would dare to spite the Olympians so soon after being exiled by them. If you were his son, you would probably be dead by now."

"Who?" I pressed.

Jake didn't budge. "There's no way that he's your father."

"What Jake means to say," Annabeth began, "is that there's a minor god who has powers that are like what we've seen from you so far- the ability to talk to cars- with one exception- You can't be his son."

"Why?" I asked.

"That god got into an argument with the Olympian council twenty years ago about whether or not he should be considered a minor god. He lost the argument, and was left in disgrace. He hasn't been seen since, but I am positive that he wouldn't have had a child, mainly because angering the Olympians means that your children are doomed. If you were his son, then you would have probably been tracked down and killed by the Olympians a long time ago."

I whistled. "These guys sound pretty serious."

"Oh, they are. It's never a good idea to anger the gods."

I nodded. "Sounds like good advice. Anyway, what is this god's name?"

Jake shrugged. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you the name. His name is Vehiclos."

"Vehiclos?"

"Vehiclos. The Greek god of transportation," he clarified. Thunder rumbled.

I looked up nervously at the sky. "Let's not talk about him anymore; I don't think that they like him."

Jake shuddered. "Yeah. Anyway, we could be completely wrong about who your parent is. I mean, the whole camp thought that Percy was going to be a son of Hermes, and then it turned out that he was a son of Poseidon. You could end up being a son of Aphrodite or something, for all we know."

{_Line Break_}

We drove quietly for a bit more, and then I spoke a question that had been on the back of my mind for a while. "So why no adults?"

Jake startled from where he'd been dozing against the door. "Hnngh? Uh, what?"

"Why didn't the camp send adults instead of kids? I mean, no offense, but don't they have a more mature welcoming party?"

"There aren't too many adult demigods out there. Most of them, well, they don't make it to adulthood. Camp Half-Blood is a place for kids, so there aren't many adults there. And the demigods who do make it to adulthood scatter around the country. They don't stick around at camp."

"Oh. So this is like a camp for teenagers?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Jake said.

After that, we didn't really say anything, and the only sound was coming from Percy, who had fallen asleep and was snoring.

{_Line Break_}

Jake yawned and looked around. "How far do we have to go?"

I checked the satnav. "We're in Connecticut."

Off to the right, on the side of the highway, we passed by a sign that read "SPEED LIMIT 55."

I frowned. "Wasn't the speed limit seventy?"

Jake twisted his head and looked behind us. "That's the least of our worries right now."

Suddenly, a bank of flashing blue lights appeared in my rearview mirror.

Fuck.

A Connecticut state trooper car pulled out behind us, sirens wailing. I gently applied the brakes and changed to the far right lane. "What do we do now?" I asked.

"Pull over," Annabeth said from the back. "Jake, can you manipulate the Mist a little?"

"I don't know. I haven't practiced in a while," Jake said.

I kept pressure on the brakes and pulled onto the right shoulder, and came to a stop. Behind us, the state trooper pulled over as well and shut off his siren. He kept the lights on, but didn't move out of the car. "I think he's running the license plates," Annabeth said. She looked at me nervously. "Does this car have license plates?"

"I don't know. I didn't check."

After several tense minutes, the officer opened the door and started slowly walking over to our car with his hand on the holster of his gun.

"Guys, I got this… I think," I said. I turned on the interior light and put my hands on the steering wheel. "No sudden movements or anything. Don't act suspicious."

"You better know what you're doing," Jake said.

Annabeth looked at me like I was crazy. Before she could try to argue, the officer came up alongside the vehicle and leaned in the window. "Can I see your license and registr-" He stopped short and peered into the car, astonished. "You guys are all kids! What the hell's going on here? How many people are in this car?" He shone a flashlight in the backseat. "Never mind. Does anyone here have a driver's license?"

"Er, well… not really," I said. So much for trying to bluff my way out.

The officer sighed. "Is this car stolen?"

"No," I answered truthfully.

The officer looked at me disbelievingly. "I'm going to have a hard time believing that since you look like you're up past your bedtime. What's your name?"

"Jackson Crossley."

The officer looked taken aback. "Where do you live?"

"Boston."

He looked even more shocked now. "Uh… what's your mother's first name?"

"Um, Marlene."

He leaned down in the window and stared at me in the eyes. "Kid, this car is registered to a Marlene Crossley in Boston. It hasn't been reported stolen. Do you mean to tell me that this car is your mother's?" His expression softened with real concern. "Kid, are you running away?"

I decided to play the angry/sullen/troubled runaway angle for all it was worth. I put my face into a downcast expression. "Sort of," I mumbled, looking down.

"Kid, look at me," the officer said. I looked up at his face. "Why are you running away? And why are these kids with you?" the officer asked.

Shit. I had to think of an excuse fast. "We... were, uh-"

"I hated my family," Annabeth said evenly. "They didn't want me. So I left."

The officer looked over at Annabeth. "Is that really true?"

Annabeth's face was tightly drawn in and expressionless. She said nothing. Wow, she was a really good actor. "Fine," the officer said. He looked at Jake. "Care to give me your name, mister?"

Jake, who had caught on to what was going on, shook his head and looked away.

The officer looked at Percy. "What about you- Oh, never mind." He chuckled. I looked back at Percy to see what was so funny. Incredibly, he was sleeping. I shook my head in disbelief.

The officer stood up. "Well, I really have no choice but to bring you guys in to the station for the night. How about I call a tow truck for this car, and then you can ride in the car on the way back? It might be a little cramped, but we can fit. Sound good?"

"Uh… sure?"

"Perfect." The officer started back to his car.

I looked at Annabeth and Jake. "Any ideas?" I whispered. "My plan just went south."

"I'm going to have to try to manipulate the mist," Jake said. "It's tough, but I might be able to do it."

"I'll help," Annabeth said. "I can use it."

"Sure," Jake said. "I need all the help I can get with this."

"Okay, good. We need to get the officer back over here. We need a distraction," Annabeth continued.

A thought occurred to me. I knew exactly what to do. It would be risky, but it just might work. I looked behind me. The officer was almost to the patrol car. "Okay, guys, I'm going to try this. Jake, when I get out of the car, get out as well. Annabeth, I'm going to try to stage a fight between me and Jake. You have to get out and pretend to try to break it up. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Here we go."

I put the car into reverse and slammed on the gas. The car lurched backwards and crashed into the bumper of the police car with a _crunch_. I opened the door and jumped out. "Jake, what the hell was that?! Why'd you put the car in reverse?" I yelled.

Jake, getting the idea, jumped out and walked over to my side of the car. "What do you mean, _I_ put the car in reverse? You were the one who hit the gas!"

"Liar!" I bellowed. "You made me hit the gas!"

"Oh yeah?" Jake snapped.

"Yeah!" I shot back.

Annabeth climbed out of the car. "Both of you, stop it!" she shrieked, playing along.

Jake and I were were nose to nose, and the officer, who had been about to pick up his radio, had dropped it and was hurrying over.

"Boys! Stop it!" he said, trying to get between us.

Jake stepped back and snapped his fingers. The officer stopped dead and his eyes started to glaze over. His entire body was quivering. "Annabeth, a little help?" Jake muttered.

Annabeth snapped her fingers, and the officer stopped quivering.

"You are going to forget about us completely," Jake said firmly.

The officer nodded jerkily. "Forget," he mumbled.

"You are going to radio into the dispatch and tell them that everything is normal. When you're done with the radio, you will go back to your car and drive back to your police station. You will forget about us."

"Yeah," the police officer said. "Forget." Jake snapped his fingers. The officer unfroze and looked at us with a look of confusion. "Who are you kids?" Then he stopped. "Hold on, I have to radio in something."

He went over to his car, leaned down into the radio and robotically told the dispatcher what Jake had told him to say. Afterward, he climbed into his car. "So long, kids," he said dazedly with a wave, before driving away.

We were left on the shoulder of a deserted highway in the middle of the night.

I looked at Jake and Annabeth in awe. "What was that?"

"We manipulated the Mist. Demigods can do that to fool mortals. It's quite useful," Annabeth said.

"When do I learn how to do that?"

"I don't know. It varies," Jake said. "Some campers don't learn it at all."

"Oh," I said, slightly disappointed. "Nice acting back there, Annabeth."

Annabeth looked like she'd swallowed something extremely sour. "That wasn't acting," she muttered.

Oh.

With an air of slightly forced cheer, I turned to Jake. "So, uh, quick thinking there. Thanks for catching on to the plan."

"Most of the credit should go to you," Jake said. "You were the one who had that brilliant plan that stopped the officer from getting the car towed."

"I don't know how I did that," I admitted. "I'm surprised that I could think of something that fast."

"There's your demigod instincts at work," Jake said. "That's when they come in handy."

"Cool," I nodded.

"Should we get going?" Annabeth suggested.

"Yeah, let's go before that officer realizes that he left four kids alone on the highway," I agreed.

The three of us got back into the car and drove off. This time, I stayed at sixty miles an hour no matter what the speed limit was.

{_Line Break_}

After at least an hour of driving, I began to see the bright lights of New York City in the distance. Along with Percy, Jake and Annabeth had dozed off. I took the opportunity to strike up a conversation with Charles.

"So, Charles…"

_Yes?_

"Do you know who my dad is?"

_I do, but I cannot tell you. You must find out by yourself._

"Well, thanks for the help."

_Is that sarcasm? _

"Yes."

_I thought so._

"Since you can't tell me about my dad, why don't you tell me about yourself?"

_Gladly. I am not the average Charger SRT-8. I've been souped up a little by your father._

"Top speed?"

_Two hundred and sixty-five miles an hour._

"Whoa. Wait- doesn't that make you the fastest road car on the planet right now?"

_As a matter of fact, yes, but the enchantments placed on me, along with the celestial bronze parts in myself, means that I am not exactly mortal._

"What's celestial bronze?"

_You will find out later._

"Why can't you tell me now?"

_I would prefer to let the half-bloods around you orient you to the world of Greek Gods. It's easier that way. _

"Oh. So, uh, what's your fuel mileage?"

_I get about eighty miles to the gallon, but your powers allow you to drive me, and other cars, without any fuel._

"Are you serious?"

_Yes, I am. Don't tell anyone I said that, yet._

_"Got it. Uh, how much horsepower does the engine develop?"_

_Six hundred and fifteen horsepower from a six-point-one-liter V8 engine._

_"Take the next exit," the GPS directed. I turned the steering wheel to the right and left the highway. "Wow, that's supercar territory. And also, a lot more than the normal base model of this car."_

_Indeed. _

_"Do you have any other special features? I mean, besides the obvious."_

_Oh, this car has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. Have fun figuring them out._

_"Hey!"_

_Just kidding. You will find out the other hidden technology within here when you need to._

"I can't wait. So… did you have any previous owners before me?"

_I had one, who enjoyed street racing. It is a highly dangerous, adrenaline-filled, and also illegal sport, and my first owner was caught and arrested, and I was impounded. A month later, your father came and rescued me from the police impound, and he crafted me into the pair of shoes that you received today and you know the rest. I would tell you more, but_ _we are coming up on Bronx, New York right now, and I sense that your friend in the front seat will wake up soon._

"Thanks. It was nice talking to you."

_Anytime. _

We started to enter Bronx, and sure enough, Jake woke up.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Bronx. We'll be in New York City pretty soon, and I don't expect to hit much traffic, since it's the middle of the night."

Jake chuckled. "You haven't been to New York City before, have you?"

"No…"

"New York is the city that never sleeps. There's always traffic here, even at midnight."

I slowed down for a traffic light and noticed a donut shop ahead. "Well, do you want to stop for some donuts?"

"That'd be great, actually. I could use some sugar."

I pulled out of traffic as the light turned green, and went neatly into a parking spot. "Here we are. Ask Percy and Annabeth if they want anything."

"They're still sleeping. I don't think we should wake them up," Jake said.

"All right. I'll just buy some donuts for them." I took some of the cash out of my backpack. "I'm buying."

Jake didn't argue.

{_Line Break_}

After buying our donuts, we got back into the car and ate in the front seat.

"So," I said as I bit into my chocolate sprinkles donut, "You said that most demigods have dyslexia. Why is that?"

Jake took a giant swallow of his jelly donut before answering. "It's simple. All demigods have their brains hardwired to read Ancient Greek instead of English; so as a result, we have trouble reading languages that aren't Ancient Greek. In other words, that's dyslexia."

"You also mentioned that they usually have ADHD; why is that?"

"Demigods have natural instincts to analyze battle scenes in seconds and gain an advantage. The upside is that we get an edge in battle. The downside is that we get ADHD symptoms in real life."

"Got it."

We sat in silence, eating our donuts. I took out my phone and checked the time.

"You know, you should be careful with that," Jake said, pointing to my phone with his donut.

"This? Why?"

"Well," he began, "Demigods and technology are a tricky mix. Using a cell phone is like sending out a signal to all of the monsters near you to come and get you. It's not just cell phones, either. I'm pretty sure that there was one demigod who googled the Gorgons and got a little more than she asked for."

My jaw dropped. "Was she okay?"

"Yes, barely. We haven't had any incidents since then, I think."

"That's good." I took another bite of my donut.

"I know," Jake said. We ate without talking after that until it was time to leave.

We ordered two more donuts for Percy and Annabeth inside and then got back into the car, where they were still asleep. Percy had started to drool.

"Should we wake them up?" I asked.

"Go ahead," Jake said.

I tentatively reached into the backseat and shook Annabeth's shoulder. She jolted awake and reached for her dagger, before noticing who was in front of her and relaxing.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Bronx," I answered. I held up the donut bag. "We got donuts."

Annabeth reached for the bag. "What kind are they?"

"Glazed and jelly," I replied.

Annabeth took the glazed donut. "Let's get back on the road. I'd like to be back at camp as soon as possible."

I climbed into the driver's seat. "Buckle up and hold onto your donuts, because here we go!" I pulled out of the parking space in a screech of tires, and we were on our way.

{_Line Break_}

After getting through New York, traffic thinned out slightly as we passed over the 59th Street Bridge and through Queens. Later, after exiting onto Route 25A, I checked the GPS. "We're almost at Camp Half-Blood. Is there going to be, like, a welcoming party?" I asked Jake.

"Probably not. It's the middle of the night. We were supposed to be back about an hour and a half ago, so everyone's probably gone to bed."

I nodded. "Well, since there isn't a welcoming party, I'm going to _make_ one!"

Annabeth sighed. "Jackson, what are you going to do?"

I grinned crazily. "I'm going to wake up the entire camp with an entrance that they'll never forget."

Annabeth shook her head. "Athena help me," she muttered.

I checked the rearview mirror carefully before accelerating hard to seventy miles an hour. What I didn't expect was to reach the crest of the next hill, and see a fox standing smack-dab in the middle of the road. "WHOA!" I yelled, as I slammed on the brakes and pulled the steering wheel to the right. Percy was thrown into the back of Jake's seat and then tossed across the car, waking him up.

"Holy Hera!" he yelped.

The car slid to the right, pointed perpendicular to the road, missing the fox by about four feet. It stared at us curiously before scampering off into the bushes. I glared at its bushy tail as it vanished. "All that trouble for you," I grumbled.

Percy was rubbing his head in the backseat and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "Holy Hera. What did I miss?"

"We're almost at Camp Half-Blood. I swerved to avoid a fox on the road, and you woke up when you were thrown across the car," I explained.

He slumped down in his seat. "How far away are we?"

"We should be there in a minute. We brought you a donut, but you might be sitting on it," I said apologetically.

Percy jumped up from his seat. Sure enough, the remains of a jelly donut were squashed under him. He groaned. "Aw, man." He took the squished donut and placed it on the floor. "Let's get going. I need some sleep in an actual bed, not the backseat of a car."

"Done." I reversed back onto the road and sped up.

The GPS blinked. "In one mile, you have arrived at your destination."

I grinned. "Charles, how loud is your horn?"

_Loud._

"Perfect."

A minute later, the GPS spoke again. "In one mile, you have arrived at your destination."

I looked at Annabeth. "Where's the entrance to the camp?"

"There's a pine tree on the top of the hill up ahead. Once you get past that, you're in the camp boundaries. Don't hit the Big House down in the valley," she answered.

"Just how big is this Big House?"

"It's a white farmhouse. Four stories. You can't miss it."

I gripped the steering wheel. "All right, then. Hold onto your hats and sharp items, and PREPARE FOR LIFTOFF!" I pressed down on the pedal, and away we went. I didn't hold back as the needle on the speedometer climbed over fifty miles an hour.

"Holy shit- SLOW DOWN!" Jake screamed, as we crested the next hill and thundered down.

"Sorry!" I apologized. I let up on the accelerator and leveled off at fifty-five miles an hour.

Jake exhaled. "Much better."

The GPS piped up. "In oh-point-five miles, you have reached your destination."

We reached the top of the next hill, and I immediately saw a lone, tall pine tree at the top of the hill after that. That had to be it. The road curved away from the hill, meaning that I would have to take the car offroad to get past the tree. I pointed the car in the direction of the tree. "Camp Half-Blood, here we come."

Percy sighed with relief. "We made it."

Without any warning, I leaned on the horn, hard. The resulting blast echoed through the hills of Long Island. I grinned. "That'll wake them up."

I kept the horn going as we left the road and hurtled up the hill towards the pine tree, the ride becoming significantly bumpier. We passed over the top of the hill, and suddenly, I saw a large, four-story, white farmhouse down in the valley. That was definitely the house that Annabeth was talking about. I took my foot off the gas pedal, but kept the horn going. I was still leaning on the horn as the car charged down the hill, and then I noticed what we were going towards. Laid out in front of me were twelve cabins, and in the center of the group of cabins was a campfire. There was currently a group of kids standing around that campfire, and I was headed straight towards them.

"Look out!" I yelled, and I slammed on the brakes while pulling the steering wheel as far to the right as possible. The car spun three times before coming to a full stop, facing the campfire. Everyone present was staring agape at us.

Jake was clinging to the door and muttering "Holy shit" over and over again.

The GPS spoke one last time. "You have reached your destination."

"We're here," I announced as I turned off the GPS. I got out of the car, closed the door, and faced the campers. "Did I hit anyone?" Dead silence. Behind me, Jake, Percy, and Annabeth climbed out of the car, looking shaken. The crowd in front of me still hadn't said anything. Some kids were coming out of the cabins, as well. They looked like I'd woken them up, which was probably true. Then, off to my left, I noticed a centaur trotting up to meet us, with hair curlers in his tail. I didn't even have time to process the ridiculousness of that before he looked at Jake and spoke.

"Ah, you've returned. Was the quest successful?" he asked.

"Yeah, we did. We got the new half-blood." Jake pointed at me as he said that.

The centaur looked at me. "You drove all this way?"

I nodded. He held out a hand. "I'm pleased to meet you. I'm Chiron, the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. It's late, so why don't you get some sleep? We'll do the introductions tomorrow. There should be a bunk in Cabin Eleven."

"That sounds pretty good." I shook Chiron's hand

Chiron looked at the car behind me. "Do you own this car?"

"Yeah. I can hang on to it." I yelled "Hiyah!" and the car swirled back into the pair of sneakers on my feet. Everyone gasped and started murmuring. Chiron simply looked surprised.

"I have many questions, but all of them can wait until morning. Travis and Connor will take you to Cabin Eleven." He turned to face the crowd behind him. "All right, everyone except Travis and Connor, off to bed! Percy, Annabeth, and Jake are fine!" The crowd dispersed, but a lot of people were still giving me strange looks. I guess shoes that turn into cars and vice versa aren't common, even in the world of Greek Gods. A pair of twins had stayed behind with Chiron.

"This is Travis and Connor Stoll. Travis and Connor, this is-?" Chiron looked at me for my name.

"Jackson Crossley," I supplied.

Chiron nodded. "Travis and Connor are the head counselors of Cabin Eleven. They'll give you a place to sleep tonight."

I held out my hand. "Nice to meet you." They both shook my hand. Chiron trotted off, leaving me standing with the twins. "So… what's in Cabin Eleven?" I asked.

"Cabin Eleven is for children of Hermes, but he's also the god of travelers, so he takes in unclaimed newcomers," Travis responded.

"Unclaimed?" I asked.

"Claiming is when your godly parent claims you as his or her child. When you're claimed, a symbol of your godly parent will appear over your head," Connor explained. "When you get claimed, you move to the cabin of your godly parent."

"Oh." I looked up. "Hey dad, feel free to claim me now." Nothing happened.

Travis shook his head. "Most campers take a long time to be claimed. Some don't get claimed at all. You probably have a million questions. They'll get answered tomorrow."

I nodded silently. The three of us arrived at Cabin Eleven. It wasn't anything impressive, really. The red paint looked like it hadn't gotten a new coat in centuries. There was a sign depicting a staff with two snakes wrapped around it that hung over the door. The entire cabin looked like it had been a home for a lot of people for a long time. Travis, Connor, and I stepped inside the cabin, and I took a look around. There were kids on every bunk, and there were more kids laid out on sleeping bags on the floor. They were all awake and looking at us. It was definitely a home for a lot of people.

"HEY!" Travis yelled. "We have a new camper!"

I could feel every pair of eyes staring at me and probably sizing me up. I lifted one of my hands in greeting. "Hey."

No one replied.

"Is he claimed?" someone called out.

Travis shook his head. "Unclaimed," he said. There was a collective groan. I didn't know how to respond to that, so I stayed quiet.

Connor pointed to some empty spaces on the floor of the cabin. "We have plenty of space available right now. You can pick whatever you want."

I chose a spot in the corner. After I laid my stuff out, Connor yelled "Everyone, back to sleep! Show's over!" and flicked off the lights. The room plunged into darkness. I settled on the sleeping bag that was already laid out in my space and drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

**A/N: Well? What do you think? Let me know with a review! Just so you know, this takes place after the events in the Sea of Monsters, which, according to the internet, takes place in the summer of 2007. Reviews are very much appreciated. Thank you to everyone who reads, and thank you to everyone who reviews. **


	3. Chapter 3: I socialize

Chapter Three

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

The next morning, I was woken up by someone shaking me. I rolled over and wrenched open one bleary eye at the offending shaker. "What?"

"It's Travis. C'mon, Jackson. Chiron and Mr. D. want to talk to you."

I sighed sleepily. "I'm coming." I stood up, stretched, and let out an enormous yawn. "Who's Mr. D?"

"He's the camp director. He doesn't really like demigods, but you have to be respectful to him. He's here from Olympus on punishment," Travis said.

"Sure," I said, not really processing what he'd said. I stepped between the sleeping campers on the floor and made my way to the bathroom. After pulling on a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and a clean pair of shorts, I was escorted by Travis to the Big House, where a group of people sat in deck chairs on the front porch. I saw Jake, Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron, but I didn't recognize the fifth. The one I didn't know was a bit paunchy and was wearing leopard-skin tights, a dark purple shirt, and, strangely enough, a ring of grapevines around his head. He was also reading a wine magazine and had a look of utter disinterest on his face.

Chiron looked up and smiled as Travis and I came up the steps to the front porch. "Ah, thank you, Travis. You may leave. I will take him from here."

Travis gave me a fist bump and a "Good luck," and left.

I settled into a deck chair and looked at the other five. Chiron spoke. "Jackson, how much do you know about the Greek gods?"

I shrugged. "Not much."

Chiron took out a DVD. "This is our orientation video. It should answer a few of your questions. Jake, would you mind starting the movie?" He handed the DVD to Jake, who stood up, opened the door to the house, and went inside while motioning for me to follow him, which I did. We walked into the living room, where I noticed a very life-like stuffed leopard head mounted on the wall. I stopped to look at it.

Jake noticed me stopping and turned to look at the leopard. "Oh, that's Seymour. Mr. D put him there."

"Seymour?" I asked.

Suddenly, the leopard snarled at me, making me jump a mile in the air.

Jake laughed. "That's what makes Seymour special." He pulled a Snausage out of his pocket and tossed it to the leopard, which caught it neatly and chewed it up in seconds. I watched him swallow and tried not to think about where the food went.

After that, Jake took me down a hall and opened a door on the end. "This is the video room," he said, entering. I walked in and saw a DVD player and projector pointed toward a large hang-down screen in the front, with several folding chairs set up in front of the screen. "You can sit down in one of the chairs there," he said. I settled into a chair and waited.

With a _clunk_, the movie started.

A panorama shot showed the inside of a large room with twelve thrones in it and a fireplace in the center. A female voice spoke on the camera. "The Greek Gods move with the flame of Western Civilization. Every time that a new, more powerful empire than the one before it rises, the Greek Gods move to that location with the flame of Olympus, which is the very flame of Western Civilization. The current base of power is in the United States. Mount Olympus is on the six hundredth floor of the Empire State Building."

I blinked. The Empire State Building had a lot less than six hundred floors, if I wasn't mistaken.

"There are twelve Olympian Gods. The Big Three gods are Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. The other Olympian Gods are Apollo, god of archery, light, and music, Artemis, goddess of the hunt, Athena, goddess of wisdom, Ares, god of war, Hera, queen of the gods, Hermes, god of messengers and thieves, Hephaestus, god of the forge, Demeter, goddess of agriculture, Dionysus, god of wine, and Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. The goddess Hestia does not have a throne, but she tends to the hearth in the throne room. Also, Hades is not part of the Olympian council, but he has a seat during the winter solstice meeting."

The camera panned through a shot of each god or goddess as their names were spoken. "There are also many minor gods, including Hecate, goddess of magic, Nemesis, goddess of revenge and balance, Janus, god of decisions, and Nike, goddess of victory."

More gods were shown. "You are a demigod, a child of one of these gods. It may be a major god…" Pictures of Apollo, Athena, and Hephaestus flashed across the screen.

"… Or a minor god." Pictures of Nike and Hecate flashed across the screen.

"Demigods have a scent that monsters can smell, which allows them to track down and kill demigods. Camp Half-Blood is the only truly safe place for demigods. Here, the camp is protected by magical borders that keep monsters out."

The film switched to a shot of a kid with a hologram of a sword spinning over his head. "If you are lucky, then you might get claimed by your godly parent."

I frowned. If I was lucky? That didn't sound like a great chance.

Next, a picture was shown of a solemn-looking trio of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades sitting around a table. "After World War Two, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades took an oath on the River Styx not to have any more children, due to the fact that they were interfering with the world of mortals too much. World War Two pitted children of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and children of Hades on the other. Therefore, there are no more children of the Big Three."

Next, a picture of a river showed up. "An oath on the River Styx is a binding oath. To break it means certain death."

Well, that was heavy.

After that, an image of a kid holding a sword came up. "Celestial bronze is a special metal mined from Mount Olympus that is used to create weapons for demigods. This material is completely harmless to mortals, but deadly to monsters and demigods alike. You, at some point, will be outfitted with a celestial bronze weapon to fight monsters."

So that was what celestial bronze was.

The movie continued. "Most demigods are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD, and dyslexia. The dyslexia is caused by the brains of demigods being hardwired to read Ancient Greek. Most other languages do not come as easily. The ADHD is a side effect of the way a demigod's mind works, which are designed to be able to analyze everything during a battle and make split-second decisions. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask Chiron, or any of the counselors at camp. Have a nice life as a demigod."

The movie ended, and Jake shut off the projector. "Well, what do you think?"

"Are those actual pictures of the gods?"

"Yup."

I thought back to the picture of Dionysus. He looked exactly like Mr. D, who was from Olympus… That could only mean one thing. "Mr. D is Dionysus?"

"Yeah."

"Should we, like, bow or something?" I asked.

Jake looked at me like I was crazy. "Are you joking?"

"Well, he is kind of an immortal being who could smite us down at any minute, and I heard that he doesn't like demigods, so I'm just saying that if we cross him the wrong way, he could just, well, I don't know, _kill us_?"

Jake looked horrified. "Oh, no. He doesn't care for us that much, but he would never _kill_ us. Hopefully."

That didn't really comfort me, but I smiled and nodded like it did. "How long have you been at camp?"

Jake took the DVD out of the machine. "This is my third year here. I've been here since I was twelve." We started to walk back out. As we passed by Seymour, he snarled at us again. Jake pulled another Snausage out of his pocket and gave it to me. "Here, give this to Seymour."

I flipped the Snausage to Seymour who caught it, ate it, licked his lips, and gave a loud belch. He lowered his head. I looked at Jake questioningly.

"He wants you to pet him," he explained.

I approached him and cautiously laid my hand on his head. He didn't react. I scratched him behind the ears, and he let out a contented purr.

"He's accepted you as a friend. He only growls at people that he doesn't know."

I looked down at Seymour. "That's cool."

We left the house and settled back into the deck chairs. Chiron cleared his throat while looking pointedly at Mr. D.

Mr. D looked up from his wine magazine. "Ah, right. Yes, hello. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Jason Crossman." He went back to his reading.

I didn't mention that he'd gotten my name wrong. "You're Dionysus."

He replied without looking up from his magazine. "That is correct."

"You're the immortal god of wine and the son of Zeus."

Purple fire flickered briefly in his eyes. "Are you actually going anywhere with this, or are you going to stare at me and say obvious things like an idiot all day, child?"

I decided to shut up, and looked over at Chiron. "Well, I finished the video. Anything else?"

Chiron's eyes drifted to my sneakers. "Annabeth, Percy, and Jake told me about the course of last night's events, and I have some questions."

I leaned back in my chair. "Shoot."

"First of all, your shoes. Can they really turn into a car?"

"Yeah. Do you want to see?" Chiron nodded, so I stepped of the porch and backed up until what I assumed was a safe distance from the house. Then, I yelled "Hiyah!" and clapped my heels together, and sure enough, the car whirled out and I found myself sitting in the driver's seat. Chiron looked startled, and Mr. D. raised an eyebrow, which appeared to be his equivalent of yelling "Holy shit!"

Chiron stepped off the porch and touched the car. "How did you get this?"

I stepped out of the car. "It was a gift from my dad." I told Chiron the story of how I got the 'Hermes Express' package.

Chiron stroked his beard thoughtfully. "This is most confusing. Your dad could be Hephaestus, who seems the most likely. I believe that there are several minor gods who could also fit that description. Your father could even be Hermes, who is the god of travelers, which I suppose includes transportation. The package was sent by Hermes Express, which supports that hypothesis. But yet, nothing is certain right now…" He trailed off.

I patted the car. "Do you mind if I hang on to this?"

Chiron nodded. "It is yours, after all."

I shifted the car back into shoe form and went back to the porch. "Anything else?"

"No, nothing," Chiron said. "Jake, would you mind showing Jackson around camp? I have to talk to Annabeth and Percy."

"Sure," Jake said, standing up.

He and I walked down the steps and towards the camp, which looked much more impressive during the day. I hadn't seen much last night when I made the entrance of the century, and I hadn't seen much this morning when I came up to the Big House still half-asleep. But now, whoa. It was impressive. Spread out in the valley in front of me were twelve cabins, and each of them looked as different as black and white. One of them had plants and vines growing all over it. Another had smokestacks coming out the roof. A third glowed like moonlight. A fourth was golden. Besides the cabins, I noticed an arena and an amphitheater and a few other buildings. I also noticed that the tire tracks that my car had made last night were gone.

Jake pointed out each of the cabins as we walked. "We have twelve cabins, one for each Olympian god. Hera's cabin is honorary, and so is Artemis' cabin. Occasionally, the Hunters visit camp and stay in the Artemis cabin."

"The Hunters?" I asked.

"The Hunters of Artemis. They're a group of girls who have sworn eternal maidenhood and hunt with Artemis. They also despise men. If you try to flirt with them, they'll probably beat you up."

"Ah." I made a mental note to never go near a Hunter of Artemis.

As we walked by the cabins, something occurred to me, and I stopped. "Wait. What about the kids who have minor gods for parents? Where do they go?"

Jake shook his head. "They stay in the Hermes cabin. That's why it's so crowded."

I frowned. "That's ridiculously unfair. There's two cabins that aren't even being used, and the Zeus and Poseidon cabins have just one kid in them. How many kids are in your cabin?"

"Five."

"I rest my case!"

Jake sighed. "It's just… well, I don't know. It's been like this for the entire time I've been here."

I glared at the overcrowded Hermes cabin. "Let's keep going. I don't want to think about this." We walked past the cabins. Jake pointed out the basketball court, which interested me, since I'd played my share of pickup games before. Behind the court was a large padlocked shed. "What's that?" I asked, pointing to it.

"That's the weapons shed. Once you prove that you can be competent with a weapon, they go in there and let you pick your own weapon. This is my weapon." Jake held up the sword that had been strapped to his shorts.

"Cool," I commented. We moved on. Past the basketball hoops were the archery ranges, and off to the left was an arena and an open-air area with tables.

"What's over there?" I asked.

"The arena on the right is where we train and have fights and spars. On the left is the dining pavilion."

"What do you do if it rains?"

"The camp's magical borders allow us to control the weather around camp as well. That way, it never rains or snows in camp unless we want it to," Jake explained.

"That must be nice," I decided.

"It is. To the left of the dining pavilion is the camp store. You can buy pretty much anything there. There used to be an arts-and-crafts cabin next to the camp store, but it burned down earlier this summer."

That sounded like a hell of a story, but I would probably hear about it later. I mean, how did you burn down an arts-and-crafts cabin? Did someone go psycho with a hot glue gun?

After showing me the spear-throwing range and the forges where the Hephaestus kids worked, Jake showed me the pegasus stables. I stopped there.

"Are the pegasi okay? I mean the ones from last night."

Jake nodded. "They're fine. If you want to, you can say hi to them."

I walked inside the stables and immediately noticed the pitch-black one. That was Blackjack. I walked up to him. "Hey. I'm glad to see you're okay," I said softly, petting his mane. "Where's Porkpie?" He pointed with his head to the stable across from him. I turned and saw the other pegasus. "Hey, Porkpie." He neighed and lowered his head, which I stroked. "I'm glad to see that you're okay, too." I stepped back. "I got to go now. I'll come back sometime." I walked out of the stables.

"Did they like you?" Jake asked.

"I think so. How did Blackjack get hurt?"

"He broke one of his ribs."

I winced. "Ouch."

After the stables, we walked over to the canoe lake, which looked ordinary until I noticed the teenage girls sitting underwater. When they noticed me looking, they giggled and dove down out of sight. I looked at Jake for an explanation.

"Oh, those are naiads. They're big flirts."

I looked at the spot where they'd vanished. I'd have to look up later what a naiad was. "Right." As we looked at the lake, a thought occurred to me. "How far is the ocean from here?"

"There's a two-minute hike from the camp to the beach, and if you go to the top of the valley that's overlooking camp, you can see Long Island Sound from there."

"Sounds nice. Is there anything that we've missed?" I asked.

"Just the climbing wall."

"Really? Where is it?"

Jake pointed across the camp to the other side of the archery range. Two towering walls were side by side, shaking and occasionally crashing into each other. Oh, and they had lava pouring down the sides as well. My jaw dropped. Holy flying fuck. How had I missed that? "Is that real lava?"

"Yeah. It's the most impressive-looking thing in camp. It shuts off at night, because there has to be satyrs supervising it at all times."

"Back up a second. What's a satyr?"

Jake pointed to a random kid who I realized was walking around in a camp T-shirt and no pants. But instead of legs, he had furry hindquarters.

"What are they… half human and half llama?"

"Half-goat," Jake corrected. "They supervise the climbing wall because they're excellent climbers. It's the mountain goat blood in them. If somebody falls, they'll be there to catch them."

I stared at the climbing wall.

"That looks hardcore as hell. Er- out of curiosity, has anyone ever died on that?"

"No. There's been some close calls, but no deaths."

"I guess that makes me feel better," I said. We headed back towards the cabins.

No two cabins were the same and all of them were impressive, but as we passed by the empty cabins of Hera and Artemis, I could only think of the overcrowded Hermes cabin. Some of the cabins had almost no campers, as well. The Dionysus cabin had only two campers. I sighed as we looped back around to the Hermes cabin.

"This place is unreal," I remarked.

Jake nodded. "I share the same sentiment."

We arrived at the threshold of the Hermes cabin.

"I have to head down to my cabin now," Jake said. "Breakfast is in a few minutes. You should be there with the rest of the Hermes cabin. One more piece of advice. Steer clear of Clarisse."

"Clarisse?" I asked.

"Clarisse La Rue. She's a daughter of Ares and the camp bully. She usually gives newbies an "initiation" of some sort."

"All right. I'll watch out. Does she do that stuff to everybody?"

Jake gave me a slightly pitying look. "No, sometimes she'll pass over a new half-blood. Although, with your dramatic entrance last night, I seriously doubt it. She's probably mad at you for waking her up with that car horn."

"Well that's just perfect," I sighed. I stepped into the Hermes cabin. "See you around."

Jake nodded. "See you around." He headed down to his cabin, and I headed inside.

Connor came up to me and handed me a slip of paper. "Chiron asked me to give you this schedule," he said.

I took it and looked it over. It read,

**Jackson Crossley**

**Beginner's archery lessons, Sunday at 3:00-4:00 at the archery range**

**Weapons and fighting training, Monday-Friday at 1:00-3:00 in the arena**

**Greek history and current events, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, 3:00-4:30, report to Athena cabin**

**Ancient Greek beginner's course, Monday and Wednesday, 3:00-4:30, report to Athena cabin**

**Team sports, every Saturday at 1:00-3:00, report to canoe lake**

**Breakfast at 8:00 every day**

**Dinner at 6:00 every day**

**No set time for lunch**

**Capture the flag, every Saturday after dinner**

**This schedule is effective immediately**

**Chiron**

**Camp Half-Blood activities director**

I looked up from my schedule and checked my watch. It was Saturday, which meant that I had weapons training and Greek history today. Also, I had to get to get to breakfast in five minutes along with the rest of the Hermes cabin. Around me, kids were in various stages of waking up, from fully dressed and at the door to waiting in a long line by the bathroom to sitting up off the floor and yawning. Since I already had my clothes on, I decided to wait until after breakfast to wash up. I went up to the entrance and leaned against the doorframe as I waited for the cabin to leave. I had been there all of eight seconds when a taller, black-haired kid with beard stubble who looked at least four years older than me approached.

He spoke in a not-unfriendly voice. "That's my spot there,"

I held up my hands and stepped away. "Sorry. Didn't know."

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "S'okay," he said, taking his spot at the doorframe. "There's a social pyramid in here. The ones who lean against the doorframe before breakfast are right at the top. You're new here, so you obviously don't know what's what and who's who around here. You'll learn. We Hermes kids, whether claimed, unclaimed, or the child of a minor god, stick together. I'm Hector Alvarez. Unclaimed." A slight sneer came over his face as he said "unclaimed," but it passed. He held out his hand.

I shook it. "Jackson Crossley. Also unclaimed."

"If you have any questions about the way the Hermes cabin works, you can ask me or any of the other three top dogs." Hector pointed at the other three kids leaning against the doorway. "That's Addie-" he indicated the girl on the left, who was about medium height with blond hair, who lifted two fingers in greeting but didn't take her eyes off the line by the bathroom. "-also unclaimed. And of course, you know Travis and Connor." The twins wiggled their eyebrows at me. "They're sons of Hermes. They're the official leaders of the cabin. Addie and I are the unofficial leaders. After breakfast, we'll- YO! PERRY! BACK OF THE LINE!"

Hector barked those last words at a muscular-looking boy who apparently was trying to cut in the line for the bathroom. Addie strode over to Perry and laid a hand on his shoulder. Perry immediately slunk back to his spot in the line.

"Anyway," Hector continued, "We'll give you a chance to officially introduce yourself to the crowd after breakfast. One more bit of advice, watch out for Clarisse La Rue."

"Jake Mason already told me that."

Hector nodded. "That's good. Clarisse usually likes to give new kids a hazing. Keep an eye out for her." He patted me on the shoulder. "I hope you fit in well here. Not me, or Addie, or Travis, or Connor, like to see a demigod struggling with their new life. Unfortunately," here, Hector's expression turned bitter, "That's getting to be too common lately, mainly because most of the unclaimed kids think that the gods don't care about them. Of course, in some cases, they're probably right."

He gestured at some of the empty spaces on the floor. "We've had eleven deserters in the last two years, and all but one of them were unclaimed Hermes kids. One of them was the head counselor, who did things differently. He encouraged more of an 'every-person-for-themselves' thing. When Travis and Connor became head counselors, they changed that. Now, we have sort of a little government here. We have the official and unofficial leaders who keep law and order. This is only our first year doing this system, but it's working pretty well."

I worked through everything that Hector had just told me, but one thing kept coming back. "Where did those campers that left go?" I asked.

His face twisted. "When do you go to your first Greek history and current events class?" he asked back.

"Today," I said, showing him my schedule.

"You'll find out the situation when you go to that class."

Great. Hector obviously wasn't going to tell me so easily. I opened my mouth to try to press him for information, but just then, the conch horn sounded, and everyone in the Hermes cabin dropped what they were doing and ran for the door, forming a line. I shrugged and went to the back. No one objected, so I guess that I did that right. We filed out and walked down to the dining pavilion, where we all sat down. After a bit of jostling, since the Hermes table was pretty crowded, we were all ready for breakfast. Chiron raised his glass in a toast to the gods, and we all joined in. Afterwards, teenage girls that looked sort of, well, _wooden_, served the breakfast. I looked at Hector questioningly as I picked out a plate loaded with toast, bacon, and strawberries.

"Wood nymphs," he whispered.

I didn't know what on earth a wood nymph was, but I decided that I could ask questions later. As I took my plate, I saw all of the campers were lining up at a bronze brazier and taking a little bit of food off their plates and putting it in the fire. Hector stood up, along with the rest of the Hermes cabin.

"At every breakfast and dinner, we sacrifice a bit of food to the gods. They like the smell," he explained.

I stared at the brazier. "The gods like the smell of burnt food?"

Hector laughed. "I asked the same question when I came to camp four years ago. There's something magical in the fire that makes the burnt food smell nice."

We walked up to the bronze brazier. I speared a large, juicy-looking strawberry and dropped it into the fire. The smell wafted out of the brazier, and to my surprise, it still smelled like a strawberry. Weird. I looked at Hector. "You weren't kidding."

Hector nodded seriously. "I don't kid people."

After sacrificing my food, I walked back to the table and started to eat. Halfway through my toast, I noticed that my cup- no, _goblet_, was empty.

Travis, who was passing by, offered his advice: "Ask it for a drink."

I looked at the goblet. "Um… can I have some orange juice, please?" The cup filled with orange juice. I took a sip. It was definitely orange juice. Wow.

As I ate, my eyes drifted around the dining pavilion. There was a table that had kids with all blond hair, where Annabeth was sitting. Percy and Thalia sitting alone at their respective tables. Jake was sitting at what must have been the Hephaestus table with four other kids. Up at the head table, Chiron was sitting at a table with Mr. D, some satyrs, some nymphs, and two teenagers a little older than me who I guessed were Mr. D's demigod children. I found myself staring at Mr. D. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I was sitting fifty feet away from an immortal being who wouldn't die from thirty shotgun blasts to the chest and could kill me with a wave of his hand. It was weird to remind myself that I shared DNA with someone who could do those things as well.

I sat back for a moment and looked around. Camp Half-Blood seemed to have some problems that nobody was doing anything about, but it also looked and seemed pretty awesome. Plus, the food was good. Any place with good food was a decent place in my book.

{_Line Break_}

After breakfast, back in the Hermes cabin, Travis and Connor escorted me to the center of the cabin. "Everybody, listen up!" Travis yelled. "Jackson here, as all of you know, is a new camper. Try to make him feel welcome. Go easy on him until he gets his footing. Now, he's going to introduce himself. Jackson, the stage is yours."

I stood up. "Uh, hey. I'm Jackson Crossley. I'm fourteen, and I'm from Boston. I collect baseball cards, and I'm a Red Sox fan." Someone in the back yelled "All right!" and someone else booed. I ignored both of them and continued. "I'm really sorry for waking you up last night, by the way. It was kind of an accident. Anyway… There you are. Nice to meet all of you." I sat down, and a smattering of polite applause filled the cabin. I didn't have anything to do until the afternoon, so I decided to catch up on the sleep that I'd missed last night. I laid down on my sleeping mat and stared up at the ceiling.

"Hey," a voice said, "You asleep?"

I sat up. "Nope."

Next to me, a kid who looked about my age, had dark Mediterranean skin, and was wearing a Red Sox cap, was sitting down.

He stuck out a hand. "I heard that you were a Red Sox fan. I'm Grant. Son of Hermes."

I took his hand and shook. "Jackson. Were you the one who said 'All right!' when I said I was a Sox fan?"

Grant chuckled. "No, that was Kaia." He pointed toward a girl wearing a Red Sox cap who was leaning against one of the bunks and watching us. She noticed me looking and tipped her cap.

I nodded at her and looked at Grant. "Do you know each other?"

He snorted. "Know each other? We're the only two Red Sox fans in camp! We're best friends!"

I stood up. "Well, I'll go meet her." We walked over to Kaia. I held out my hand. "Hey. I'm Jackson. I heard you were a Red Sox fan."

She laughed. "That's true. I'm Kaia. I see that Grant introduced himself. I'm a daughter of Janus, the god of decisions." We shook hands.

"So," Grant said, looking at me, "Where are you from?"

"Boston," I answered.

"That's cool. I'm from New Jersey."

"I thought New Jersey was Yankees territory?" I asked.

"It is. I just liked the Red Sox more," Grant said succinctly.

"I'm from Portland, Maine," Kaia added.

Grant sat down on the bunk. "This is my bunk, and Kaia's bunk is the one above mine. So, uh, yeah." He took out a deck of cards from under his bed. Do you play poker?"

"Yeah, I play poker a little."

Grant shuffled the deck. "You up for a game of Texas Hold'em? Kaia and I play a lot."

I sat down. "Sure, sounds good." He dealt two cards each to himself, Kaia, and me. I looked down at my cards. I had two aces. Grant took out a bag of poker chips. "We usually split the chips and play until someone's all out. Here, take some chips." He split the chips three ways between us and put down three cards faceup on the bed. There was an ace, a jack, and a nine in the three in the middle. That gave me three of a kind. I slid four chips into the middle. "I'll bet four." Kaia and Grant each slid four chips into the middle. Grant bet three, and Kaia bet two. Next, Grant put another card in the middle. It was a jack. That gave me a full house. Perfect. I slid in ten more chips. "I'll bet ten." Grant and Kaia each put in ten.

Then, surprisingly, Kaia slid in five chips. "I'll raise you five."

Grant and I slid in five. Grant put down the final card, which was a two. Kaia put in ten chips before I could bet.

"I'll bet ten," she said confidently.

After putting in ten to match, Grant passed on betting. I looked down at my hand. There were only three hands better than a full house; which was Four of a Kind, a Straight Flush, and a Royal Flush. The odds of Kaia having any of those three were astronomically low. I decided to bet ten.

"All done?" Grant asked.

Kaia and I nodded.

"All right. Lay them down. I'll go first." Grant laid down a queen and a two. One pair.

I chuckled. "Read 'em and weep." I laid down my full house. Grant groaned, but Kaia remained emotionless.

"I'm sorry, Jackson, but…" She laid her hand down. She had two jacks in her hand.

Four of a kind.

Game over.

I groaned and sat back. "How? HOW? How did you get a four of a kind?!"

Kaia smirked. "It's not impossible…" she said in a sing-song voice.

I slumped my head against the pole of the bed. "Is this a trick or something?"

"Do you want to know my real secret to winning in poker?" Kaia asked.

"What?"

"I'm a daughter of the god of decisions, remember? I almost always make the right decision. It's not quite the same as being the daughter of Tyche, who's the god of luck, but it's close. That's my secret to poker."

I looked at her. "So you're saying that it's impossible to beat you in poker?"

She shook her head. "Not impossible. Grant's beaten me plenty of times. There's plenty of luck and skill involved in poker, and I don't really have an abundance of luck. However, skill, I have plenty of that, unlike Grant."

"Hey!" Grant protested.

Kaia laughed. "You know it's true."

Instead of retaliating, Grant just sighed. I looked at Kaia. "Have you ever thought about playing in Vegas?"

She shrugged. "I don't have the time or money for Vegas. Besides, what the hell would I do with all the money that I'd win?"

"Buy a Lamborghini," I suggested.

"Yeah, right," Kaia scoffed. "I'm not old enough to drive a car, let alone a Lambo." She leaned back against the bedpost. "Anyway, tell us about yourself."

"Well," I began, "What's there to know? You guys ask the questions."

"Sure," Kaia said. "Um, favorite movie?"

"Apollo 13," I said automatically.

Grant nodded. "That's a great movie, isn't it? Right, Kaia?"

"Never seen it," Kaia replied bluntly without a hint of embarrassment.

I stared at her. "You don't know what you're missing!"

She shrugged. "I just never got around to watching it. No big deal."

Grant started to clean up the playing cards. "Do you play baseball?" he asked me.

"Yeah. Do you?"

"Yeah." He shuffled the deck and split it in half. "Are you guys up for another game?"

"Of course," Kaia and I said at the same time. We turned and looked at each other. "JINX!"

"Oh, for Zeus' sake," Grant cut in. "Let's just play. Here, take two cards."

I took two cards.

It was two jacks.

For Zeus' sake, indeed.

**A/N: What do you think of chapter three? Please review! Tips and feedback are welcomed and appreciated. Also, I'm looking for a beta, so if anyone would like to do that, please let me know. Anyway, once again, please review! Thank you! Air Force Muffin out.**


	4. Chapter 4: I make some enemies

Chapter Four

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

Over the next couple of days, I started to integrate nicely into Camp Half-Blood. I got to know Grant and Kaia better over games of Texas Hold 'em. I went to my first Greek history class on Saturday, as well, which proved to be very informative.

*_Flashback_*

I walked into the Athena cabin at 3:00 on the dot and looked around. A blond-haired boy came up to me. "Are you here for the Greek history class?" he queried.

"Um, yeah. Do you know who I'm supposed to meet, or-"

He held out his hand. "I'm Javier. I'll be teaching your beginner's course."

I shook his hand. "Right. Nice to meet you. I'm Jackson. Where do I sit down?"

"Hold on a bit," Javier said. He walked over to a bed and reached under it with his arm. "Almost… come on… There!" A loud click came from under the bed, and he stood up triumphantly. "Got it."

I watched openmouthed as, with a series of clicks and clacks, the bed flipped upside down into the floor, revealing a desk and a SmartBoard in its place. Holy shit.

"The Hephaestus kids can come in real handy," Javier said as he turned on the SmartBoard.

I sat down slowly at the desk.

"So, you watched the orientation video?" Javier asked.

"Yeah…"

"Good, that makes my job a little easier." He handed me a sheet of paper. "Answer these questions as best as you can."

I took the paper and pulled a pencil out of my pocket. I read the first question.

_Name as many Titans as you can._

Titans… weren't those the immortals that the gods had fought? Wasn't there, like, the big bad one who'd eaten his kids because he didn't want them to be more powerful than him? Right. That was Cronos. Or was it Cronus? I went with Cronus. That sounded correct. What other Titans were there? I racked my brains, but the only other Titan I could think of was Atlas. I decided to move on to the next question.

_Describe the Titan war with as much detail as you can._

Okay… I sat back and thought. The Titan war had been between the gods and the Titans, and the gods had won. Zeus had led the gods into battle. There had been some hundred-handed monsters involved somewhere. Cronus eating his children had something to do with that, as well. That was the extent of my knowledge. I wrote it down and moved on.

_Describe the similarities and differences between Kronos, Cronus, Cronos, and Chronos ._

Oh, for fuck's sake!

I left that one blank and handed the sheet to Javier, who looked it over for a minute. "All right," he said finally. "We've got a lot to cover. We'll start by going over the Titans. Besides Kronos and Atlas, there is Oceanus…"

{_Line break_}

After spending an hour and a quarter going over all of the Titans and the Titan War, Javier came to the subject of the last question. "All right," he began. "The subject of Kronos and his other namesakes is a tricky subject. There are three different names for Kronos, who can also be called Cronus or Cronos." He wrote the three different terms on the SmartBoard. "Most commonly, we call Kronos by the name that starts with a 'K.'" Javier lifted a finger. "However there is also Chronos-" He paused to write the fourth name down. "- who was a separate Primordial entity that controlled all of time. He is not to be confused with Kronos, who is the king of the Titans. The confusing thing about Kronos and Chronos is that in addition to their similar names, they both have control over time. Am I making sense?"

"Yeah, except for one thing."

"What is it?" Javier asked.

"You said that Chronos was a Primordial. What is a Primordial?"

Javier cleared the Smartboard. "Hoo boy. That's a tough question. Let me try to give it to you in a nutshell." He wrote down a list of names: Chaos, Gaea, Ouranos, Chronos, and Tartarus. "These are the names of some of the Primordial deities. The Primordial deities are supposedly the first beings to come into existence in the universe, and they control everything in it. The Primordial deities are older than the Olympians and the Titans. Chaos was apparently the original creator of the universe. At least, that's how the present theory goes."

"The present theory?"

Javier sighed. "The problem with the Primordials is that no one is entirely sure of their existence. Any definitive records of them are lost to history. All we have today are speculations. Chaos, if Chaos truly did exist, would be an all-encompassing figure."

What Javier was telling me was going against everything that I had learned about Christianity and the other world religions. When I had studied religions throughout history in school, the Greek Gods had been treated as little more than pagan gods who were eventually forgotten as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam swept the world. But just earlier that day, I had come face-to-face with a supposedly pagan god who shouldn't have existed. But Chaos sounded oddly familiar. "Um, Chaos sounds a lot more like the capital-G God in today's religions."

Javier looked up at the ceiling contemplatively. "You may be right," he said. "But you might be wrong. The relationship between the Greek Gods and modern religions is extremely complicated. Sometimes it's dangerous. I mean, I'm not saying that there isn't a capital-G God. In fact, from a personal viewpoint…" He pulled a necklace with a small cross hanging from it, out from under his shirt. "Personally, I think that somehow they can coexist. But I would advise against trying to understand the link between God and gods. You simply don't know enough about Greek mythology yet. Only the most accomplished scholars attempt to tackle the question that you're posing. Let's wait until you know a lot more before studying this. It's complicated. Got it?"

I nodded.

"Anyway," he continued, "We're getting off track. Gaea and Ouranos were children of Chaos. Gaea had children with Ouranos. Kronos was one of these children. Gaea grew unhappy with Ouranos and gave Kronos a scythe to overthrow Ouranos with, which Kronos did. He became the new ruler of Earth, controller of time, and ruled over the rest of the Titans. You know the rest after that."

I nodded. "Yeah. Kronos eating his children because of paranoia, and then the Titan War."

Javier erased the SmartBoard. His face grew serious. "However, there is a reason why you're learning about all of the Titans right now."

"Why?" I asked.

"There is another Titan War coming."

If I had had a drink in my mouth, I would have sprayed it all over my desk, Javier, and the SmartBoard. It's a good thing I didn't. "_What?!_" I gasped.

Javier's expression didn't change. "There's another Titanomachy coming. Kronos is rising again. He may be resurrected in a few years. Already, there are Titans that were dead for thousands of years that are now stirring in the depths of Tartarus as well."

"Tartarus?"

Javier waved it off. "I'll get to that in the next lesson. Right now, I need to give you the lowdown on the upcoming Titan War."

"Sure..?"

Javier turned back to the SmartBoard and then back to me. "Okay. One of our biggest problems right now is that we're getting demigod deserters left and right. They're crossing over to the side of the Titans for the promise of a better life."

I looked at Javier. Suddenly, some of the pieces of information that Hector had mentioned this morning came together. That was where the demigod deserters had gone. "But why?" I asked.

Javier sighed. "They didn't think that the gods cared about them. Luke has been offering them a better life where they're treated fairly and given attention. Of course, he might be lying, since he's a master of deception."

"Who's Luke?"

Javier's face grew heavy. "He's the ex-head counselor of the Hermes cabin. Currently, he's trying to raise Kronos. He was claimed by Hermes, but he still thought that his dad didn't care about him. He left almost a year ago and has been recruiting demigods and monsters for the Titans' army ever since."

All of the questions that I'd had since this morning evaporated, replaced by a new, burning one. "So what you're saying is that I'm basically being thrown into the middle of a war?"

If Javier's face had looked heavy before, now it looked flat-out sunken. "I… well, you'll have training, so you can defend yourself-"

"You're saying I'm being thrown into the middle of a war," I interrupted.

"Yes," Javier said quietly.

"What if I didn't want to be thrown into the middle of a war?" I challenged.

"I- well- um- er…" Javier stuttered.

"I'm waiting for an answer…"

Javier paused, took a deep breath, and collected himself. "Jackson, please try to understand. The Titans are _evil_. We need every hand we can get in this war. If the Titans win, it will mean the end of Western civilization itself. The flame of Olympus will fade, and humanity itself might lose its drive to create, discover, and explore. They'll become almost mindless lemmings and die out eventually. The Titans cannot win, if we want humanity to continue." He stopped and stared at me desperately.

I sat back heavily. "This is a fight for the fate of humanity? It's that important?"

Javier nodded.

My real-life fantasy life was starting to get a little bit too realistic. Now I was thrown into a war for the fate of humanity. "I…Wow. I- I have no words. Things are this serious? Wow. I'm sorry."

Javier exhaled. "Thank the gods," he muttered.

I pretended not to hear him and stood up. "Well, I think it's 4:30. I'm going to head out. Thanks for the lesson." I shook his hand and left the Athena cabin, with my head still spinning from all of the information that I'd received, and the fact that I was fighting a war.

*_End Flashback_*

Yeah, learning that I had to help save the world as we knew it kind of threw me for a loop. Later that day, I was exempt from the game of Capture the Flag on Saturday night because I hadn't learned how to wield a weapon yet, because I had to wait until Monday to start weapons training. Instead, I got to lounge on the porch of the Big House with the oh-so talkative Mr. D and listen to the screams and yells coming from the woods.

It actually wasn't that bad, since there was another camper on the porch.

*_Flashback_*

Mr. D had his face buried in another wine magazine and wasn't responding to anything, so I was really kind of alone on the porch. I was leaning against the railing and looking at the deepening twilight when I heard a voice behind me.

"Don't tell me that you were a tree for seven years as well."

I turned around and saw a girl standing there. She was a little taller than me and had short black hair. She was wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans. "No, I don't believe so. Does that sort of thing happen often around here?"

She shook her head. "Apparently not."

I looked back at the sky. "So, how come you're missing Capture the Flag?"

She sighed. "I've been a tree for the last seven years. I just got turned back into a human a few nights ago. I get to bunk in this house for a couple of days while they sort out whatever they have to sort out."

"They?"

"The Olympians. Chiron. The campers. I don't know. All I know is that too much has changed in the seven years that I was a tree. My best friend is seven years older and my other best friend went evil. I just don't know what to think." She looked at me. "Enough about me. What are you doing up here with nobody but a god on parole and a former tree to keep you company?"

"My story is much less exciting, I'm afraid," I said.

She looked at me expectantly. "Well?"

"I just got here yesterday morning and I still don't know how to hold a sword. That's why I'm up here. I've been exempted from the game. If they gave me a sharp weapon and asked me to fight, I'd probably impale myself."

The girl snorted. "That's very interesting. Anyway, what's your name?"

I held out my hand. "Jackson Crossley."

She shook my hand. "Thalia." As we shook, a weak static shock passed through her hand and into my body.

I recognized her name from what Annabeth had said in the car on Thursday night. "Annabeth mentioned you," I said.

Her eyes suddenly looked like they were burning into my face. "What did she say?"

"Not much. She told me that it was a long story about you. She said that you were a daughter of Zeus."

Thalia nodded. A spark of electricity danced over her hands briefly. "That's right." She looked out at the sky and then back at me. "You said that you didn't know how to use a weapon?"

"Like I said, I'd probably impale myself."

"I'll show you how to use a spear," she offered.

I stared at her. "I thought you said that you were a tree for the last seven years."

"Yup. That doesn't mean that I've forgotten how to use a spear, though. I was using a spear for a long time before then." She stood up and cracked her knuckles. "I'm going inside. Nice meeting you."

"You too," I said, watching her walk back inside.

*_End Flashback_*

Thalia seemed nice enough. On Sunday, my only official thing to do was to report to the archery range for my beginner's class. It was a complete disaster.

*_Flashback_*

About five minutes after three o'clock, I hurried onto the archery range and looked around for my instructor, who was supposed to be the head of the Apollo cabin.

"Are you Jackson Crossley?"

I turned around and saw a brown-haired kid with a thousand-watt smile and a bow slung over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

He unslung his bow. "I'm Lee Fletcher, head counselor of the Apollo cabin and your instructor. If you'll just follow me…"

{_Line Break_}

After showing me the basics of how to hold a bow and notch an arrow, Lee let me try to shoot. I pulled back the string on the bow and let the arrow fly.

It flew three feet and plopped into the grass like a dead pigeon.

Lee tried to hide his laughter but ended up sounding like a crow choking on a chicken bone. "Uh… Try pulling the string back further next time," he advised.

I picked up the arrow and tried again. This time, I pulled the string as far back as I could and lined up with the target. I pulled back the string a little more, but, suddenly, the string snapped, and somehow, the arrow flew _backwards_, smacking me in between the eyes and knocking me to the ground. This time, Lee couldn't hide his amusement and fell to the ground laughing.

"Jackson, I think that I can safely say that you are _not_ a son of Apollo. Would you agree?"

"I don't know about that. Everyone has trouble at first, right?"

Lee shook his head. "Jackson, I've been shooting arrows for nine years, and I've played in national tournaments. I've taught people from ages seven to forty-seven how to hold a bow, but not once have I ever seen someone shoot an arrow _backwards_ and hit themselves in the forehead. Especially not an Apollo kid."

"Maybe it's my special skill."

"I doubt it," Lee said. "Look, you actually broke the string on this bow. I don't believe it. I've never seen an Apollo kid do _that_." He handed me another bow. "Try this one. The string is thicker."

I took it and tried to notch the arrow again. It slipped out twice before notching.

Lee watched with a slightly mocking smile on his face. "Need some help?"

"What would help is closing your mouth," I snapped.

Lee stepped back but kept the thousand-watt smile on his face.

That smile was getting more annoying every minute.

I pulled the string back and aimed down towards the target. I pulled the string back a little further and felt the tension in the bow before releasing the string.

That's when everything went completely wrong.

As I released the string I suddenly stumbled, causing me to jerk the bow to the right. The arrow moved with the bow and sailed wildly off to the right. I recovered my balance just in time to watch the arrow curve to the left and skewer a large tree branch one hundred yards away from the archery range. The branch fell off the tree with a loud _crack_. The spectacle wasn't done yet, though. A girl melted out of the tree and started yelling in an unfamiliar language and shaking her fist at me. Then she switched languages, and I immediately recognized an amazingly diverse arsenal of swear words. I even heard a couple new variations, which really shouldn't be repeated. Then she threw an acorn at me. Said acorn hit me square in the forehead, right in the spot where I had been smacked by the backwards arrow before. I collapsed to the ground, moaning. The girl vanished back into the woods, leaving me with a splitting headache and Lee Fletcher, who wasn't making things better.

In fact, I would have preferred the headache.

Lee had collapsed to the ground as well, but he was shaking with laughter. "Ja- Jackson- let me tell you a couple of things," he said through his laughter.

"Well, tell me," I said crossly.

"Number one, that girl was a dryad. They're tree spirits. You hurt her tree, which made her mad at you. Number two, HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

"I have no fucking idea."

"I have never seen anybody do a worse shot than that! How the _Hades_ did you manage to put the arrow more than a hundred yards off target? I couldn't have hit that branch if I tried, and I'm a son of Apollo. To say the obvious in case you don't get it, you're not a son of Apollo."

I gritted my teeth. "Why don't you just shut the fuck up?"

Lee's thousand-watt smile finally started to melt. "Language."

"Stop acting like my mom and just tell me what I did wrong there so I can fix it."

"You looked like an idiot, but something tells me that you're going to have a hard time fixing that."

I froze. "Did you just call me an idiot?"

"No." Lee handed me another arrow. "Here, try to shoot in the general direction of the target."

I ignored his barefaced lie and took the arrow, notching it without trouble. Then I aimed it at the target, drew the string back, and let it fly. Naturally, my shot was the worst one yet.

The arrow went soaring away from me before flipping to one side and altering its course. When the arrow flipped, it turned in a way that basically turned it into a boomerang. The arrow swung and actually reversed course, flying straight back towards me and still spinning like a boomerang. I ducked to the ground just in time as the arrow spun right over me, taking a tuft of hair with it, and dug into the earth behind me.

Lee stared at me in stunned silence. His face was bright red from trying to hold his laughter in.

I stood up. "Uh… is that physically possible?"

Le finally gave in to his laughter and fell to the ground, sounding like a hyena on helium. When he'd finally gotten his annoying giggles out, he stood up. "Jackson, I have to applaud your shooting, because it's so bad that it's almost good. Almost. Honestly, that's the worst shooting I've ever seen."

I clenched my fists and stepped closer to him. "You think I'm funny or something? Would you like to see how far I could shoot an arrow up your ass? I guarantee that I won't miss that shot."

Lee's thousand-watt smile finally started to melt. "Why don't we stop this lesson so you can cool off that attitude?"

I shoved the bow into Lee's hands. "Only if you go learn not to be a jackass. That's an hour of my life that I won't have to spend with your ugly mug in my line of sight. I won't miss you."

I stalked off without waiting for an answer. Good riddance.

*_End_ _Flashback_*

Lee Fletcher was an asshole. I just hoped there weren't other people like him in camp. Sadly, my hopes would be proven wrong.

{_Line Break_}

Finally, on Monday, I found myself going into my first weapons and fighting class. My trainer was supposed to be Clarisse La Rue, the very girl that Jake and Hector and several other kids had warned me to stay away from.

This should be quite fun.

I walked into the arena, which was filled with kids sparring with all manner of sharp materials, from swords to daggers to spears to some blades that I didn't even know the name for. I dodged between two girls who were fighting with swords and went to the center of the arena, where I was supposed to meet Clarisse.

A voice came from off to the left. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the newbie. I don't believe that we've had the chance to meet," the voice drawled.

I turned around and saw a brown-haired girl leaning against a rack of weapons, who was taller than me, more muscular than me, and was wearing an army vest, camouflage shorts, and a crimson handkerchief around her head. She had a spear strapped to her back and also looked like she'd flatten me in a fight.

It looked like I was screwed.

"Right," I said, holding out a hand. "You must be Clarisse."

She sneered at my hand. "That's correct, newbie. I'm your big, bad instructor who's going to teach you how to hold your weapon without killing yourself. Is that okay, or do you want me to call your mommy and have her take you home?"

"I'm good, thanks. Where do we start?" I said, trying to brush off her taunts.

She strode over to a rack of weapons, took a sword off, and shoved it into my hands with extra force, causing me to stumble back. "Awww, is the sword too heavy for the widdle newbie?"

I took it in both hands and inspected it. "No, not really. Now what?" If all she was going to do was taunt me, then I could take it. If she got physical, then I was in trouble.

Clarisse unstrapped her spear from her belt and leveled it at me. "Try to defend yourself… if you can."

Yup, she was going to get physical. I was dead.

Most of the kids around us had stopped to watch Clarisse and I spar, and I was pretty sure that they knew who was going to win already. So did I, and the winner's name did not start with a "J."

I was transfixed by her spear, which literally had electricity crackling around the tip and down the shaft. Then she stabbed it at me. I backed out of the way and swung the sword awkwardly at the shaft. Clarisse pulled her spear out of the path of my sword with lightning speed and slammed me in the side of my head with the shaft, which damn near knocked me out. I dropped to one knee and waited for my vision to clear. Clarisse poked me none to gently with the blunt end of her spear. "There are no breaks in a fight, newbie. Get up and keep going."

I took several deep breaths as the arena came back into focus around me. I was in no hurry to get knocked down again. Clarisse moved closer and pushed the very point of her spear into my skin.

"I said, _get up_, newbie."

I'd had enough of Clarisse's mocking. She could probably level me in a fight in five seconds, but with the element of surprise, I might be able to grab her spear and throw a quick punch. I took another deep breath. Clarisse stepped closer.

"You deaf, newbie? Come on. Get up and face your defeat like a-"

I jumped up and snatched her spear before she could react and shoved the blunt end of it into her stomach, pushing her back and knocking the wind out of her. I then jumped forward and body-slammed her, knocking her down to the ground. I dropped my sword and pointed the spear at Clarisse.

Dead silence fell. Now every person in the arena was staring at us, not just the people around us.

Clarisse was still on the ground, gasping for air. She chuckled. "Got some fight, newbie. I like that."

"Listen, _Clary_," I hissed.

Her eyes flamed. "Don't call me-!"

I poked the spear into her stomach. "Quiet."

She shut up.

"Listen, _Clary_, I've had enough of your shit. Cut the teasing. Do it later!"

My last sentence appeared to throw Clarisse off, because she only looked confused. "Huh?"

"I said, do it later. This is a weapons and training class, not a beat-up-the-newbie class. I would like to learn how to handle a weapon, so I can defend myself. Beat me up later."

She coughed. "I don't understand."

"I'll repeat myself. Beat me up later. I'd like to learn how to use a weapon right now. You can beat me up afterward behind the Hermes cabin. Deal?"

Clarisse was catching her breath. She was going to be up in seconds, which meant that either I was dead, or she'd take my offer and I'd be dead later.

She got up onto one knee. "I'll take the offer."

Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief. My death was delayed. Outwardly, I only smiled and dropped her spear onto the ground. Clarisse bent to pick it up. Then she sneered at me. "Just because I'm not beating you up doesn't mean that I have to be nice to you, newbie."

She noticed that the people around her were still staring. "Well, what are you looking at?" she snarled. "Get back!"

The arena immediately became a buzz of activity again.

Clarisse picked up my dropped sword and placed it on the rack. "So, newbie, I noticed that you seem to have a tiny bit of an affinity for spears." She took a spear off the rack and thrust it into my hands. "I'm the best person in camp to teach you how to use a spear. Consider yourself very, very lucky. At least, until I get you later."

I hefted the spear. "Sure, whatever. Just do your teaching stuff."

Clarisse picked up her spear and swept me onto the floor with it.

"Hey!" I protested. "What was that?"

Clarisse snickered at me. "Teaching. Get up, newbie. I've got to teach you how to hold a spear now."

I got up. I was in for a beatdown, but I would probably learn some things of value. Hopefully.

{_Line Break_}

I dragged myself into the Hermes cabin at 4:45 after my Ancient Greek language class. I collapsed on Grant's bunk. "Ugghhhh," I groaned.

Grant sat up. "Are you okay?"

"I just got back from my Greek history class."

"What's so bad about that?"

"You misunderstand," I said. "I had training before then. With Clarisse."

"What? Did she clobber you?"

"No, that's later."

Grant looked confused. "Wait, what?"

"Here's the thing. I made a deal with Clarisse in training."

"You _what?_"Kaia said from her bunk above us.

I sighed. "Let me explain…"

"Please do!" she said, climbing down.

"For the first five minutes of training, basically, all she did was pretend to teach me, while basically she was just using it as an excuse to knock me around."

Grant stood up. "Where is she now, because I'll-"

I pulled him back down to the bed. "Just listen, okay? I made a deal with Clarisse. It was that she would teach me how to use a weapon, and she can pulverize me after training." I left out the bit where I stole her spear and threatened her with it to make her take the deal.

Kaia and Grant looked at me with horror on their faces. I shrugged. "What? It worked. She actually taught me things for the rest of the lesson, albeit roughly. I learned that I have an affinity towards spears, and she also showed me how to hold a spear correctly. She even showed me a couple of basic offensive moves. I mean, she did wipe the floor with me, repeatedly, in sparring, but I can hold a spear without any danger of stabbing myself now."

Kaia groaned. "All you did was delay your execution. Great thinking, Jackson."

Before I could respond, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around. Hector was standing there. "What?"

"Clarisse wants to see you," he said, with a pitying look on his face.

Grant sucked in a breath behind me. I stood up slowly. "I'm coming."

I walked towards the door, feeling like I was on a walk to the gallows.

Clarisse was standing outside the door with two of her cabinmates on either side. I stopped. "What's with the other two?" I asked.

Clarisse smiled evilly. "You never said anything about bringing other people to the fight."

"I'll bring two as well, then." I turned around. "Um, can you guys-"

"Already here," Kaia said. She and Grant stood on either side of me.

Grant laughed nervously. "It's an old Mexican standoff, isn't it?"

Clarisse ignored him and looked at me. "If these weaklings are your backup, then I'm ready to go."

I stepped outside with Grant and Kaia. "Behind the cabin, like I said."

The six of us traipsed to the back of the Hermes cabin where there was a small group of bushes. Clarisse looked around. "We need lookouts. How about you-" she pointed at Grant with an expression that made it clear that he had no choice- "And you, Nolan." She shoved one of the Ares kids forward. "All right, you two," she said. "Go keep watch. If Chiron or Mr. D come over, yell. If Prissy comes over here or his girlfriend, feel free to stab them. Got it?"

Grant and the Ares kid, Nolan, nodded (Grant didn't look too sure about the stabbing part,) and they went to opposite ends of the cabin, leaving, me, Kaia, the other Ares kid, and Clarisse.

I faced Clarisse. "Well, _Clary,_ give me everything you got. I'll probably lose, but hey, a deal's a deal." I put up my fists and braced myself.

Clarisse came at me like a bull, fast and powerful. She grabbed my arm and threw me down to the ground, and before I could react, she had me in a powerful headlock. I clawed at her ironlike grip, but for all the good it was doing, I might as well have given up.

"I'm just getting started, newbie," she muttered in my ear. She pulled me to my feet and slammed me into the wall before I could move away. Then, with my head against the wall, she threw three quick, painful punches to my face. "That one's for calling me Clary. That one's for calling me Clary. That one's for calling me Clary. And this one-" she kneed me in the balls and smashed her knee into my forehead- "Is for calling me Clary."

Her kneecap felt as hard as a rock as my head bounced off of it. I fell to the ground in a dazed heap. Next to me, Kaia stepped forward like she was going to throw a punch at Clarisse, but Clarisse held up her hand. "Stay out of this if you know what's good for you."

Kaia didn't budge. "Kaia… stay out of it," I managed to croak.

The other Ares kid stepped forward and cracked his knuckles. Kaia finally got the message and moved back. Clarisse turned towards me. "Congratulations. You've just graduated from 'newbie' to 'punk.' Now you'll be treated like any other camper." She delivered one final, less powerful kick to my head and motioned to the other two Ares kids. "Come on, guys. Let's ditch these losers." They strolled off, leaving me with Grant and Kaia behind the Hermes cabin.

Kaia rushed up to my side. "Oh gods, Jackson… How badly are you hurt?"

When someone says "How badly are you hurt?" instead of "Are you okay?" you know that you look pretty trashed. I groaned and rolled onto my back. My balls felt like they had exploded, and I had a tremendous headache. I was going to have quite a black eye and a bruise on my face tomorrow, as well.

"I'll get help," Grant said. He dashed around the corner of the Hermes cabin.

I looked at Kaia through my already swelling eyes. "Is there such a thing as godly Advil?"

Kaia was gingerly touching my forehead. "That's going to be an impressive bruise. And, to answer your question, there is, sort of. Ambrosia and nectar."

"What's that?"

Before Kaia could answer, Grant came tearing around the corner with Hector and another person who I didn't recognize. "He's over here," he said worriedly.

Hector came and knelt by my side. "Jackson, what happened?"

I groaned briefly. My headache was getting worse. Clarisse had kneed me right where the arrow had hit me on Sunday. My balls still felt like they were on fire. I felt like I was hanging from a ledge. Below me was nothingness. Should I hang on and risk the pain, or let go and fall? I let my eyelids droop shut. Keeping them open felt like a tremendous effort.

Hector's voice suddenly sounded like it was coming from far away. "He's slipping under! Perry, I need your help!"

Four sets of hands lifted me up. More footsteps sounded. I heard frantic voices. All of it faded away, as finally, mercifully, I slipped into unconsciousness.

**A/N: What do you think? Please read and review! Thank you! Air Force Muffin out.**


	5. Chapter 5: Lightning hurts

Chapter five

**A/N: Here it is! Chapter five! Please read and review! Thank you!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

I woke up, and the first thing that I registered was the lack of pain. My balls felt fine. Just to make sure, I reached under my shorts quickly to make sure that they were still there. They were. I no longer had a splitting headache, as well. In fact, I had no headache at all. My face didn't hurt either. I felt fine.

How did that happen?

The last thing that I remembered was being decked by Clarisse and getting knocked out. How did I end up here?

Where was here?

I looked around. I was sitting in a bed that had white curtains all the way around it. The bed looked like one of the bunks from the Hermes cabin. I stood up and went to the curtains. I cautiously poked my head outside. "Um… hello?" I was inside the Hermes cabin, and Grant, Kaia, and another boy were snoozing in three lawn chairs outside my enclosed bunk. I tapped Kaia on the shoulder. Her eyes flew open, and she gaped at me in mild alarm.

"Jackson!" She stood up. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess," I said.

Kaia hugged me with tears in her eyes- and then she stepped back and punched me in the shoulder. Hard.

"Ow!" I yelped, grabbing my shoulder. "What was that for?"

She shoved me. "Jackson, what the Hades were you thinking, challenging Clarisse to a fight like that? It would have been better if you just took the beating in the arena there! You were seriously hurt! Grant and I were worried sick about you!"

I held up my hands. "All right, I made a stupid decision. I won't do it again."

Kaia looked at me seriously. "Grant cried when you went under, Jackson. He thought that he'd failed you. So did I. You can't do that again."

"Oh," I said. I had no good answer to that.

We stood in silence.

I pointed at Grant and the other kid. "Should they still be sleeping?"

Kaia looked at a clock on the wall and then back at the other two. "Actually, I have to wake them up so Perry can run a diagnostic check on you."

"Perry?" I asked. The only Perry that I knew was the kid who Hector had called out for cutting in line. I looked at him. It looked like the same guy.

Kaia shook Perry awake. He jumped up. "Wha- what's going on?" Then he noticed me standing in front of him. "Oh, you're awake. Good. Let me run a diagnostic check on you, and then I'm going to need you to take some stuff." He took a stethoscope that had been hanging around his neck and put it on various places on my body- my neck, my chest, my cheek, my stomach, my thighs, and listened closely each time. Finally, he stood up. "Well, good news. You've made a full recovery. Your concussion is completely healed, your facial fractures are mended, and most importantly, your testicles are fully functioning again. It's like your injuries never happened."

"You got all that from a stethoscope?" I asked dubiously.

Perry fingered the cord. "It was a gift from my dad. It lists injuries and medical disorders in a person, gives a diagnosis, and gives suggestions on how to best heal them. It also tells how well the injury is healing."

"Who's your father?" I asked.

"Asclepius. God of medicine and healing." Perry sneered. "He's also a better healer than Apollo could ever hope to be. That's why I treated you here instead of taking you to the healers in the Apollo cabin."

"Oh, thank fuck you didn't take me to the Apollo healers," I said.

"Why?"

"I called Lee Fletcher ugly and I threatened to shoot an arrow up his ass."

Perry snickered. "You can't shoot an arrow up his ass."

"Why not?"

"He's already got one shoved up there."

I snorted. "You might be right."

Perry smiled slightly, then put his stethoscope down. "So Clarisse La Rue did this to you?"

"Um, yeah."

He scowled. "I hate her. She's so fucking arrogant. She just walks around camp, flaunting her parentage and practically rubbing it in our faces. I would not shed a single tear if she died. She's a fucking bully."

Kaia looked slightly uncomfortable with what Perry was saying.

Perry reached into a small trunk under his bed and took out a canteen. He poured some of its contents into a small glass with ice in it. After plunking a straw into it, he handed me the glass. "Here, drink this."

I took the glass and took a small sip. It tasted wonderful. "What is it?"

Perry closed up the canteen and put it away. "Nectar. It's the food of the gods. Demigods can have some, but they can't have too much, or they'll burn up."

I took another sip. It tasted like my mom's best hot chocolate, the one that she would make by the gallon on frozen winter nights and it was rich and creamy and chocolately and warm and delicious. It tasted like home. I drained the glass. It filled me with energy, and I felt refreshed, recharged, ready to go. I handed the glass back to Perry. "That felt great."

Perry took the glass and put it back in his trunk. "It usually does. The Apollo kids probably would have busted the nectar out right away. I took the diagnostics and broke out the other present from my dad- my replenishing medicine case." He pointed at his trunk. " It has nearly all mortal medicines that you can ask it for, along with some magical medicines specifically designed to target certain things, like a concussion or a broken leg, and all I need to do is ask it for some. The only thing is, it's like a car engine. If you run it too hard, it'll burn out and need a cool-down time. If I ask for too many different medicines, or too many of the same medicine, it'll burn out." He closed the trunk and slid it under the bed. "Of course, it's better than anything that those Apollo bastards can come up with."

"So how come you're not one of the healers in the Apollo cabin?" I asked.

Perry scowled. "Only because Asclepius is my dad and not Apollo, so that makes me an 'unqualified healer!'" He made air quotes around 'unqualified healer.' "What they don't realize is that Asclepius was a better healer than Apollo. Asclepius was such a skilled healer that he could bring people back from the dead. Zeus got mad and killed him with a thunderbolt because of that, but then Apollo threw a hissy fit because Asclepius was his son, and Zeus brought him back and made him a god. Now, millennia later, how much recognition does Asclepius get? None! Sure, there's a few plants named after him, but Apollo got seventeen fucking space missions named after him! Asclepius was better, gods dammit!"

He wheeled and punched the bedpost. Grant, who had woken up sometime during Perry's rant, laid a calming hand on his shoulder. "Hey, none of that. You just saved Jackson from never having any children. That's something to be proud of."

Perry stood back and took a deep breath. "You're right."

"Are we going to report this to Chiron?" Grant asked.

"No way," Perry said vehemently.

"Why?" Grant asked, startled.

An evil-looking smile crept across Perry's lips. "Hector and I are going to take our own measures of punishment. It'll be far better than anything that Chiron could dish out. If we rat on Clarisse, she'll get off with something like a month of dishwasher duty. If we keep it quiet, we can do whatever we want to Clarisse and her friends. The name of the game here is revenge. You follow me?"

Grant didn't say anything. Neither did Kaia. I didn't, either.

"Good. That's settled." Perry turned back towards me and took out his stethoscope. "Let me do one last checkup, and then I'll give you a clean bill of health." He ran his stethoscope over me a few times, and frowned. "You have a contusion forming in your right shoulder that wasn't there before."

I touched my shoulder. "What's a contusion?"

"In layman's terms, a bruise," Perry explained.

I laughed. "Oh, you can thank Kaia for that. Before you woke up, she punched in the shoulder because I scared her."

Perry cracked a grin. "I see. Aside from that, you have a clean bill of health. You're free to go."

I smiled hugely. "Thanks, Perry."

"No problem at all," Perry said. He took down the curtains around the bunk. "Your friend Grant was nice enough to lend you his bed for the night while you recuperated."

I looked at Grant. "Really? Thanks, man."

Grant looked away. "Anytime, really."

"Come on," Kaia said. "Breakfast is almost over, and I'm starving."

I ducked into the bathroom and pulled on a fresh T-shirt and shorts and joined Grant and Kaia at the entrance to the dining pavilion. The entire Hermes cabin looked up and applauded as I walked in. Moments later, Perry walked in and got an even bigger round of applause from the Hermes kids. I sat down next to Hector, who handed me a plateful of food.

"I saved you some breakfast," he said.

I took the plate gratefully. "Thanks." I dug in.

As I ate, Hector gave me the details of how the night went while I was unconscious. Hector, Perry, Grant, and Kaia had carried me inside to the cabin, where the Stolls had wanted to take me to the Apollo cabin to a healer, but Hector and Addie had vetoed it, saying that Perry could do a better job, which he did. Perry had worked for a half-hour to heal my face, nether regions, and other injured areas. Then he, Kaia, and Grant had stayed up all night in shifts to make sure that I was doing fine until I woke up the next morning.

I sat back. "Wow. I need to go thank Perry."

Hector shook his head. "Perry never accepts thanks for healing someone. He says that it should be a free service. He enjoys healing people. Problem is he never gets much of a chance." He took a sip of his orange juice. "Times are tough for children of the minor gods around here. The same for the unclaimed kids. They all just become outcasts. That's why so many of the unclaimed kids and kids of the minor gods are leaving. They're tired of being the outcasts. They just want a better life, and that's what the Titans are promising. I mean, there are even rumors of some of the more mistreated minor gods joining the Titans as well…" He trailed off.

Grant nudged me. "Look at Clarisse," he whispered.

I looked over at the Ares table. Clarisse was staring at me with a look of complete disbelief on her face. I caught her looking and winked at her. Before she could respond, I looked away. "She looks surprised as hell," I commented.

"Bet she didn't expect that there'd be a top-notch healer in the Hermes cabin," Kaia said.

I deposited some bacon in my mouth. "I have training again with her in a few hours. Wish me luck."

Kaia frowned. "I'm going to go see if I can change your trainer. Clarisse is about as good a trainer to you as a cat is to a mouse."

"No, don't," I begged. "I don't want to cause any trouble."

Kaia sighed. "If you come back from training bloody and black and blue, I'm going to Chiron and there's nothing that you can do about it."

"Fine."

{_Line Break_}

I walked into training that afternoon, saw Clarisse off to the left, and walked up to her. "I'm here," I said cautiously.

"I can see that, punk," she growled. She stalked over to a rack, took a spear off, and tossed it at me. I caught it with both hands and stepped back as she unstrapped her spear. "Let's spar," she commanded.

"Sure."

We stepped into an empty ring and leveled our spears at each other. Clarisse struck first with a stab, which I evaded by moving to the left. I stabbed at her with my spear, which she dodged, and swung her spear in up towards my chin. I stumbled backwards to avoid it, leaving me open to an attack, which she took. She whacked me in the chest with the side of her spear, sending me reeling. I regained my footing as Clarisse came in for an attack, and I met her spear strike with mine, and we stood deadlocked for half a second before she twisted her spear and knocked mine out of my hands. Then, with a two-fisted shove, she slammed the shaft of her spear into my torso, knocking me down to the ground. Clarisse put her foot on my chest and her spear in my face.

"I think you're dead, punk," she said.

I nodded in agreement, and after a long second, she let her foot off my chest. I got up and retrieved my spear. "There was a microscopic bit of improvement there, punk, but you've still got a long, long way to go before you can even have a hope in Tartarus of beating me. First of all, your first stab at me was too easy to see coming. It was a stupid move. You need to…"

{_Line Break_}

I walked into the Hermes cabin. So what if I was a little late for Greek history. Javier and his SmartBoard could wait. I was tired and sweaty and sore, but it was a good kind of sore, the kind that you get after a huge workout. Clarisse had been surprisingly much less violent this time. I found Kaia dangling upside down from her bunk. Grant was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Kaia," I said casually.

Kaia turned her head towards me. "Jackson! How was training?"

"Just fine. Clarisse took every opportunity there was to insult me, but she didn't kill me, so I think I'm good."

Kaia flipped down from her bunk. "Are you sure? I'm not convinced that Clarisse would go so easy on you so soon after the fight."

Addie was walking by when she heard Kaia say that. "You can thank Hector and Perry for that," she said, stopping next to us.

I looked at Addie. "Why? What'd they do?"

She smirked. "They went out and beat the crap out of one of the Ares kids after breakfast. It was retribution for what Clarisse did to Jackson. Now we're all even, and Clarisse isn't going to try to kill you again because we'll try to kill one of her siblings in return." She walked away.

I stared at Addie's retreating form in horror. "They… went after another kid just because Clarisse went after me?"

Kaia was expressionless. "It appears so."

I sat down hard on a random bunk. "Oh, holy flying fuck… I've just started a war between the Hermes cabin and the Ares cabin. It's my fault. I thought that they would go after Clarisse, not some innocent random person. Oh, fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Kaia sat down next to me, but before she could say anything, I stood up. "I have to get to my Greek history lesson right now. I'll talk to you and Grant later."

I jogged out the door and towards the Athena cabin. I needed to get away from my problems, and a lesson in Greek mythology seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.

{_Line Break_}

Over the course of the week, things slowly started to return to normal. The tensions between the Hermes cabin and the Ares cabin eased, but they were still there. Clarisse didn't try to demolish me in training, but she still wiped the floor with me in everything. I learned a couple more things about Greek mythology. Thalia, the girl who I had met on the porch, had moved into Cabin One- Zeus' cabin. I hadn't heard anything about spear lessons from her, but I would have gladly taken them. Clarisse may not have been out for my blood anymore, but she was still using way more force than necessary. Also, I really didn't appreciate being called "Punk." I noticed that one of the Ares kids was walking around with two black eyes and a bruise on his left arm. I tried to bury my guilt every time I thought about it. I wanted to apologize to Clarisse, but, well, I was kind of scared of her. So I just let it lie and carried on like things were normal.

On Saturday, I had my first game of Capture the Flag, which was fun as hell and a little bizarre.

{_Line Break_}

It was finally the night of Capture the Flag, and since Clarisse had given me a week of lessons with a spear, I was no longer exempt from the game. Tonight's match was Athena, Hermes, Poseidon, and Hephaestus pitted against Apollo, Ares, Zeus, Demeter, Dionysus, and Aphrodite. Annabeth was calling the shots for our team, the red team. I was on border patrol with Jake. Grant and Kaia were part of the defense team for the flag. I was given a helmet with red plumage, a spear, and a large shield. Jake had his sword and the same helmet and shield. After Annabeth gave some last-minute orders, the conch horn blew, and the red team dispersed. Jake and I trekked down a side path towards the creek, which was the border between the two territories. We walked silently, until, around the next bend, the creek came into view.

We sat down on a rock by the water and waited.

Jake took out his sword and examined it minutely. Abruptly, he looked up. "Any clues on determining who your godly parent is?"

"Sort of. I ruled out Apollo," I replied.

"Why?"

"Lee Fletcher's a jackass, and I also can't shoot for my life."

Jake chuckled uneasily. "Even if you were a son of Apollo, you wouldn't want to be in the same cabin with him, would you?"

"No. If it turns out that my dad is Apollo, I'll probably go jump off a cliff or something." I shrugged. "It can't be much worse than having to be in the same room with Lee's annoying smile."

Jake tossed a pebble into the creek and watched it sink. "It looks more like you might be a son of Hephaestus," Jake said.

I looked up at him. "You think so?"

He nodded. "It kind of looks that way right now. If you want, I can show you around the forges tomorrow, see if you have an affinity for working with tools or anything like that."

"Sounds good. You got a time that works?" I asked.

"We're usually in the forges at around early afternoon-ish. I'll ask Beckendorf if I can get you in or something."

"Who's Beckendorf?"

"Charles Beckendorf. He's the head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin. I'll ask him about you."

"That'd be great. I can be there at anytime. Should I be down at the forges at, say, one o'clock?"

"That should work." Jake put away his sword and surveyed the woods on the other side of the creek. "It's awfully quiet, isn't it?"

He spoke too soon.

There was a loud **BOOM** and a blinding flash of light, and suddenly Jake was sprawled out on the ground with his clothes smoking. His eyes were closed.

"Jake? Jake!" I dashed over to him. He was breathing, I could feel his heartbeat, and he had a strong pulse. He seemed okay, aside from the singe marks on his hair and his missing eyebrow. He was just unconscious. What had knocked him out?

Behind me, a twig snapped. I spun around, raising my shield.

A girl with a red helmet stood there with her spear pointed at me. I backed up to one of the trees. If this was Clarisse, then I was doomed. Then I noticed her spear. It wasn't electric. I lowered my shield, but only slightly. "Who are you?"

The girl sighed. "Honestly, you'd think that the lightning would tip you off."

I recognized her voice. "Thalia?"

"At last he catches on." She stepped forward. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got a flag to get to. So long." She slashed her spear at my helmet, but I blocked her attack with my shield.

"Look, hold on. If you want to get to the flag, you'll have to get by me." I raised my spear.

Thalia stepped back. "Well, then." She tapped her bracelet, which expanded into a large shield, but the shock of seeing a bracelet turn into a shield was nothing compared to what was on the shield. Carved into the shield was the most horrifying face that I'd ever seen. It was Medusa, with her snake hair flailing about and her mouth captured in a horrible grimace. The image pervaded my deepest fears and worst nightmares. I screamed. I screamed as loud as I possibly could, and I curled up into a ball under my puny shield, trying futilely to get away from the horror. The image had burned itself into my mind, and every time that I tried to close my eyes, Medusa's sneering face appeared in my mind. Distantly, Thalia spoke. "Oh, is it that bad…? Sorry." I heard the click of the shield retracting, and, miraculously, the ghastly face of Medusa disappeared from my mind. When it didn't return after several seconds, I slowly sat up. Thalia was standing there with an apologetic look on her face. "I didn't expect you to react that badly. I probably shouldn't use this shield on other demigods."

"Yeah," I said weakly, my voice scratchy from my screaming.

"So… You'll have to let me by, or I'll bring out my shield again." Thalia's hand went to her bracelet.

"No!" I slashed my spear at her hand, making a small cut and whacking it away from her hand.

Thalia's eyes widened, and she stepped back and raised her spear. "You want a fight? I'll give you one." She came at me swiftly and stabbed her spear. I barely deflected it with my shield and racked my brains for one of the moves that Clarisse had shown me. I clumsily blocked her next strike with my shield and went for her legs in a low, sweeping blow like Clarisse had on the first day. Thalia jumped away from the strike and went for my helmet with her next move. Once again, I blocked with my shield, and tried to retaliate with a slash at her torso. Thalia blocked it with the shaft of her spear and turned my momentum into leverage against me and pushed back into a deadlock. I couldn't hold it, and Thalia threw me down to the ground. I scrambled backwards, raising my shield as Thalia advanced. Then she hooked her foot under the edge of my shield and kicked it off to the side, leaving me defenseless to her next blow. I rolled to one side and stood up, only to be backed up to a tree by Thalia.

I held up my hands in surrender. "Dead?"

Thalia snorted. "Dead?! You still have your spear!"

"I can't really defend myself with a spear…"

She stared at me. "Are you joking?"

"No…"

She lowered her spear. "It's possible to defend yourself with a spear. It's easy!"

"I thought you needed a shield."

Thalia held up her bracelet, making me flinch, but she didn't take out the shield. "I didn't use this shield once during the fight, and I won! Anyone who fights with a spear needs to learn how to defend themselves without a shield. You saw me block one of your strikes with my spear, right?"

"Actually, yeah," I said.

"See? It's possible!"

"All right, all right," I conceded.

"Who's been teaching you how to use a spear?"

"Clarisse."

Thalia shuddered. "Her? Oh gods, that would explain a lot. I've seen her spar. She's all offense and no defense. No wonder you can't defend yourself." She put her spear on the ground. "It's settled. I want you to meet me in the arena at ten o'clock sharp tomorrow for spear lessons. No buts," she said, cutting off my objections. "Clarisse may be a good fighter, but she's one of the worst teachers that you'll ever see. You'll never be a good fighter if you don't get some other help as well. Got it?"

I nodded.

Thalia picked up her spear again. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow at ten o'clock. Oh, and this shouldn't hurt too much. You might have a bit of a headache, and maybe some burnt hair, but you'll be fine in the morning."

I stood up. "Wait, what-"

I probably should have considered that Thalia might blast me like she did to Jake. There was a clap of thunder, and everything around me was brilliant white for an instant. Then it all went black.

{_Line Break_}

I opened my eyes and found Jake and a kid from the Apollo cabin looking at me. I groaned. My entire body tingled, and I felt like I'd just received the worst static shock of my life.

"Are you all right?" Jake asked.

I shook my arms, legs, fingers, and head. Everything felt fine, aside from a small headache. "What happened?"

"Thalia blasted you with lightning. Also, the game's over," Jake explained.

The Apollo kid took out a small piece of a lemon square. "Here, eat this," he said, breaking off a piece. I took the square and chewed it. It tasted like the bacon that Adam's mom made every morning. I would always stop by his house every morning, usually accompanied by Trey or Stan or both, to grab a piece. It tasted like friendship.

"Thanks, I said, standing up. "What was that?"

"Ambrosia," the Apollo kid said shortly. He walked away.

I looked at Jake. "Are you all right? Thalia blasted you as well."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Am I missing an eyebrow?" he said, feeling his forehead.

"Actually, yeah." Comically, all that remained of Jake's left eyebrow was a small line of singed fuzz.

I saw Grant and Thalia waiting for me by the creek bank. Thalia stood up as I approached. "There you are. I wanted to apologize for clobbering you with lightning. Don't forget, I'll see you at ten o'clock." She walked away.

Grant looked at me curiously. "What was that about?"

"Thalia's offering me spear lessons."

"Oh. That's nice of her."

We started to walk back to the camp. Suddenly, Jake stopped. "Hold on. I left my sword back at the creek. Don't wait up." He took off back towards the creek.

I briefly watched him run away before continuing with Grant. "Did we win or lose?"

Grant pressed his lips together tightly. "We lost. Thalia was a distraction. While we were chasing her away from the flag, Clarisse snuck in with an attack squad and stole the flag."

"Ouch. Where's Kaia?"

"Back at the Hermes cabin."

"Oh."

Grant looked at me and cracked a grin. "Honestly, Jackson. You've only been here a week, and you've already gotten yourself knocked out twice. You're on track to kill yourself before the summer's out."

I shrugged. "I've just been unlucky."

"I can tell."

Jake caught back up to us with his sword, and the three of us walked out of the woods. Jake broke off from us to head to the Hephaestus cabin. "Don't forget, Jackson. Come down to the forges tomorrow after lunch." He entered his cabin.

"What was that about?" Grant asked.

"Jake's going to give me a tour of the forges tomorrow."

"Oh."

Grant and I walked back to the Hermes cabin and went inside. Kaia was already asleep on her bunk. I went over to my sleeping bag and smoothed it out. Behind me, Grant shifted uncomfortably. I looked up at him. "Are you all right? You look like something's eating you."

Grant swallowed. "Jackson, I never got the chance to apologize for the fiasco with Clarisse on Monday. I should've jumped in and tried to defend you."

"Hey, none of that," I said. I patted my sleeping bag. "Sit down."

Grant sat down. "I just feel guilty that I stood there and watched you get destroyed. I should've done something. I shouldn't have volunteered for lookout." He sighed. "I just don't like being a gods-damn bystander."

"Don't feel bad. If you tried to jump in, you would've ended up right next to me on the ground at the end of the fight." I pulled out a pack of cards from under my sleeping bag. "No hard feelings. You up for a game of poker?"

"Of course I am," Grant replied.

"Here, you deal," I said, handing him the cards.

The sullen look started to disappear from Grant's face as he dealt out the cards to me and him. I checked my first two. I had a queen of spades and a seven of spades. Huh. I put in two chips.

"So how long have you and Kaia known each other?" I asked Grant.

He put down the next three cards faceup. "I've known her since the second day that I arrived at camp. Kaia had been there for a week before I got there. We were sitting down at the dinner table, and I looked up and saw Kaia sitting across from me, wearing a Red Sox cap. I was wearing my BoSox cap as well. We made eye contact, and, well, we've been best friends ever since. We've known each other or three years now."

I tried to ignore how close that sounded to the beginning of a romance story. "Do you see much of her outside of camp?"

"No, not really. I'm a year-rounder, but Kaia isn't, so…" He put down the next three cards faceup.

"Yeah." I checked the three cards. There was an ace of spades, a king of hearts, and a three of spades. I needed only one more hand of spades for a flush. I put in four chips and looked up at Grant. "How do you keep track of the Sox around here, anyway? I haven't seen a single computer or television here, except for the SmartBoards in the Athena cabin, and I can't use them because they're password-protected."

"Ah," Grant said. "I was wondering when you'd ask." He stood up and went over to his bunk, and reached under the mattress. He pulled out something and handed it to me. "Right here."

I looked at the item in my hand, which was a transistor radio. "A radio?"

Grant grinned. "Not just any radio, but a radio with a bit of Hephaestus fiddling added to make the reception crystal clear and extend battery life."

I turned the radio over in my hands. "All I have to say is 'How come I didn't see this before?'"

Grant took the radio back and set it down. "Well, Percy Jackson borrowed the radio for a night to listen to some music, and he promptly lost it."

I sighed. "He seems forgetful."

"Yeah, he kind of is. He's nice enough though, but I'm not sure if he's the hero of the prophecy."

Having been to the current events class three times this week, I knew what prophecy Grant was talking about. There was a Great Prophecy made about a "half-blood of the eldest gods" that would "reach sixteen against all odds." Percy, being a son of Poseidon, was thought to be the half-blood in the prophecy. Now, with Thalia back, everything was changed. She could be the prophecy child as well. In my opinion, Thalia was more likely to be the prophecy child. She was older than Percy, and she was more powerful. Percy just really didn't seem that powerful to me.

Grant put down the fourth card. It was a four of spades. I had a flush. I slid in five chips. Grant looked at his hand, and raised me one chip.

He put down the fifth card, which was a jack of diamonds. I didn't bet anything. "I'm done. You good?"

Grant nodded. "Lay 'em down." He put down his cards. He had a three of a kind.

I laid mine down. "Flush."

Grant groaned. "Aw, dangit." He started gathering up the cards.

I looked over at the radio. "You mind if I turn this on?"

Grant shrugged. "Go ahead. Maybe there's a game on."

I flicked on the radio and twirled the dial to 850 AM- WEEI, the radio station of the Boston Red Sox. After a minute of listening, I discerned that, to my disappointment, the game was already over, and the Red Sox had lost, three to two. Grant and I listened to the game report for about a minute before a pillow smacked me in the side of the face.

An extremely annoyed voice came from a college-age girl with curly black hair sitting upright in a bunk, who was holding another pillow in her hand, ready to be thrown. "Will you two losers turn that stupid thing off and go to sleep?!" she snarled.

"Sorry, Danielle," Grant said hastily, flipping off the radio. Danielle grumbled something at us and slipped back under her covers.

"Who was that?" I asked, as Grant put away his radio under his bed.

"Danielle Reynolds. She's unclaimed, but we've had a suspicion for a while that her mother is Athena."

"The black hair…? I thought all Athena kids had blond hair."

Grant shrugged. "That's why it's only a suspicion."

Another pillow came at us, hitting Grant full-on in the face. "I told you assheads to go to sleep!" Danielle growled. "And stop talking about my parentage before I set your genitals on fire!"

"Fine, fine!" Grant said quickly. "We're going, we're going!" He literally dove onto his bed and under the covers. Deciding that Grant had taken Danielle's threat seriously and that I probably should as well, I burrowed into my sleeping bag without hesitation. Within minutes, I was taking the long boat ride to dreamland. Being threatened to have your nether regions set on fire unless you go to sleep will do wonders for your dreams.

**A/N: There you go! Chapter five! Please review! Tell me what you think! Feedback is welcomed. Also, a big thanks to Apollonia-Artemisia for being my first reviewer! Thank you! Air Force Muffin out.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Hephaestus cabin

Chapter six

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: Please read and review!**

The next morning, after breakfast, I headed down to the arena for my ten o'clock training appointment with Thalia. She was already inside the arena, standing and staring off into space. She looked sort of like she'd fallen asleep with her eyes open. I walked up to her. "Uh, I'm here…?"

She started out of her trance and looked at me intently for a brief moment before relaxing. "So you are. Here, take this." She tossed a random spear at me, which I caught as Thalia took a sword off from a rack of weapons. "I'm going to swing this sword at you, and I want you to do the first thing that comes to your mind."

She slashed the sword at my chest. Instinctively, I stepped out of the path.

"No, no, no!" Thalia said agitatedly. "That's not how it's done! If you did that in a fight, you just left your defenses open! In a sword-on-spear fight, it is a must that you can use your spear on the defense. A shield can be too heavy and tiring. Besides, if you lose your shield and you don't know how to fight without one, you're sunk."

Thalia took a mace canister out of her pocket. I jumped back. "Whoa, don't mace me! I didn't do anything!"

Thalia sighed. "This is my spear, idiot." She pressed the nozzle down, and, sure enough, the canister expanded into a spear. She handed me the practice sword. "Take this and take a swing at me with it. I'll block it."

I swung the sword at her, and sure enough, she simply blocked it with the shaft of her spear, repelling the attack. I slashed again, and she blocked again. I went in for one last strike, and Thalia spun her spear, knocking the sword out of my hand. She pointed the spear tip at my face. "Dead," she declared.

"Dead," I agreed. I retrieved my practice spear. "Can you show me how you did that last thing with your spear?"

"That's a more advanced move," Thalia said apologetically. "I was just showing how you can use a spear as defense. For now, we'll stick to the basics." She picked up the sword. "Now, try a basic blocking move, like I showed you before…"

{_Line Break_}

An hour and a half later, I sat at a bench at the edge of the arena with Thalia, sipping a bottle of red Gatorade and watching Percy and Annabeth spar. A group of kids from the Athena, Apollo, and Ares cabins were watching around him. I was pretty sure that I saw money change hands between the Apollo and Ares kids. As I watched the fight, I looked at Thalia. "So why are you doing this?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you, like, teaching me how to use a spear? I mean, why single me out? There's plenty of other kids in this camp who could use some help training. Why me?"

Thalia hesitated, watching Annabeth, who had just won the sparring match by slamming the butt of her dagger into Percy's head and nearly knocking him out. "You were the only new kid in camp."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Thalia took a deep breath. "I had to find out about the Greek Gods the hard way. I was on the run for years. I didn't get to Camp Half-Blood for a long time. It was almost too late when we got there. There was a lot of monster chasing us. I was nearly killed, and I had to sacrifice myself to save my friends. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for my dad and the Golden Fleece. I just don't want anyone to have a hard time adjusting to their new life or defending themselves. I can't count the number of times that I nearly died because I didn't know what was going on or what I should do. I don't want any of the other demigods to have a tough time getting adjusted. You're the only new kid in camp, so I figured this was a good place to start helping." She sighed. "The gods don't pay very much attention to their kids. In fact, I guess that you could say that they're kind of negligent… I mean, I barely ever saw my dad, Zeus. And then he disappeared completely. He didn't try to help me once, until he turned me into a tree to save me. It really seems like we're not going to get much help from the gods, so we demigods have to help each other out."

I sat silently as I digested her story. "Okay."

Thalia stood up abruptly. "Remember, meet me here at the same time tomorrow." She walked off without waiting for an answer.

I sat there for another couple of minutes, pondering what Thalia had said. The gods didn't pay much attention to their kids. Was my dad paying any attention to me? Or had he forgotten about me after sending me the shoes? I'd never seen him in my life. I didn't know what he looked like. The least that he could do was show up and claim me. It wasn't like he was short on time. Being eternal would mean that you have all the time in the world.

{_Line Break_}

After lunch, I headed down to the forges to meet Jake for the tour. The entrance was a large steel door. After waiting for several minutes for someone to open the door, I noticed a small door off to the side. I opened it and saw inside a large red button that said PRESS.

Naturally, I pressed it.

Upon pushing the button, the door slid open with a smooth hiss. I walked in and was greeted by noise, lots of it. Hissing and creaking and crackling and clanging. Basically, it was loud. The door slid shut behind me as soon as I entered.

Four different kids were working on various things. One was welding together two pipes to make… something. Another was hammering out a sheet of celestial bronze. The last two were making a sword in the coals of a forge. The place smelled like oil, grease, and fire. The kid who was welding stopped and looked up at me. Then he lifted up his mask. "Yo, Jackson!"

"Jake." I strolled over to him, avoiding the random bits of machinery hanging from the ceiling. "I'm here. What's the grand tour?"

Jake shook his head. "I've got to finish this welding job, and it's going to take a while, so Beckendorf's going to give you the tour." He pointed with the welding nozzle to an African-American kid who was hammering out the sheet of celestial bronze. "He's over there. I've got to get back to this." Jake flipped down his welding nozzle and went back to his work.

I walked over to Beckendorf and tapped him on the shoulder. "You Beckendorf?"

He turned around. "That's right. Would you happen to be Jackson?"

"Yeah."

Beckendorf tok off his Kevlar gloves and held out his hand. "I'm Charles Beckendorf, head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin. Everyone calls me Beckendorf."

I shook his hand. "I'm Jackson. Jake seems to think that Hephaestus is my dad."

Beckendorf nodded. "He told me, and I think there's probably a chance, after I heard the facts." He put down has hammer. "Anyway, these are the forges. That's Nyssa and Rafael over there," he said, pointing to the two kids making the sword in the forge.

"I'll introduce them later, when they've finished that sword that they're working on." He reached over and grabbed some safety goggles from the table and handed them to me. "Put these on. All visitors have to observe proper safety protocol in here. Don't touch anything unless I tell you it's okay, don't get too close to the machinery, and if I tell you to duck, there's a reason. Got it?"

I nodded.

"Good. All right. This place was designed for a lot more than four people, so it looks a little empty right now. We stay busy in here, though, what with the upcoming Titan War and all. We've got a lot of weapons to make. Things to repair, traps to build, defenses to shore up." He picked up a mason jar with a timer and a mess of wires attached to it. "Yes, this is exactly what it looks like. It's a bomb."

I backed up a step. "Is that thing going to off?"

Beckendorf put the jar back down. "Not a chance. It isn't primed."

"Oh."

Beckendorf moved on to the forge where the other two kids, Nyssa and Rafael, were finishing the sword. "This is how we make a lot of our weapons, with the forges." The girl, Nyssa, took a pair of huge steel tongs, pulled the glowing red-hot sword out of the furnace, and dipped it into a barrel of water. A cloud of steam rose up, hissing furiously. The other kid, Rafael, lugged over a block of marble and laid it on the table.

"Watch this," Beckendorf said.

Nyssa pulled the sword out of the water. She ran her Kevlar-gloved hand over the edge of the sword, and then she swung it into the marble block, cleaving it like it was cheese. I was impressed, but Nyssa just shook her head. "It's a little off-balance. It needs a little more work." She turned back to the forge and pushed the sword back into the coals.

Beckendorf smiled proudly. "In the Hephaestus cabin, we strive for only the very best, as you can see." He walked over to where Jake was welding the two pipes together. "Jake's making a replacement part for one of our forges. The fuel line that kept the fire going broke two days ago, and we had to spend a day cleaning up the mess. He's welding a new pipe together."

Jake turned off the welder and lifted up his mask. "Beckendorf, the pipe's actually finished now. I can put it back in. I'm going to need some help, though."

Beckendorf nodded and looked at me apologetically. "Can you wait a minute?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

As Beckendorf and Jake started to put the pipe back in, I looked around the forges some more. Off to the right, I noticed something that I hadn't seen before. There was a door labeled GARAGE. Garage? As in car garage? I walked over to the door and inside the room.

There was a red 2001 Honda Civic EX on a stand with its hood up. A girl was bending over the engine. "Hello?" I asked.

The girl turned around and started slightly when she saw me. She looked about two years older than me and had Asian features. "Oh, hey. Are you new or something?" she asked.

"Yeah, sort of. Beckendorf's showing me around. I'm unclaimed, but they think that I'm a son of Hephaestus."

She wiped her hands on a grease-stained cloth. "Huh. Well, here's a test. Do you want to see if you can fix this car?"

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

She handed me a flashlight. "Look around, knock yourself out. I already know what's wrong with the car. Let's find out if you can."

I bent under the hood and shone the flashlight around the engine. "I didn't catch your name."

"Stef. Short for Stephanie," she said.

"Oh. I'm Jackson." I inspected the engine. The top of the engine block had been taken off, along with the piston rings. I looked closely at the piston heads and then down at the piston rods. They looked fine. I placed my hands in the engine block to see if the pistons were jammed, when suddenly, the engine grew warm. I gasped and jumped back.

"Something wrong?" Stef asked.

"No, I, uh, just banged my finger."

Stef looked fooled, so I went back to the car and tentatively reached out my hand. The engine still felt warm.

I placed both of my hands on the engine and looked at the pistons. The engine now felt like it was pulsing slightly. I looked down, and suddenly, I realized that there was something glowing red in the engine block under the pistons. "AH!" I yelped, leaping back. I sliced my finger on an exposed piece of metal as I did so. The glowing red thing disappeared as soon as I took my hands off the car.

"What's wrong?" Stef asked worriedly.

I clutched at my bleeding finger. "Nothing really… I just cut my finger," I said. At least that was half-true.

Stef took a tin of band-aids off a nearby table. "Are you okay? Here, take a band-aid."

"Thanks." I wrapped one around my finger and went back under the hood. The glowing red thing appeared again. It looked like one of the crankshafts. I looked around at the rest of the engine, and suddenly, I noticed that the rest of the engine had become varying shades, from green to yellow to orange to red. I rubbed my eyes, but the glows didn't disappear. The majority of the engine had green-colored parts, with a few yellow and orange parts. There was only one red-colored part, and that was the crankshaft.

"Oh," I whispered. "Green must be the parts in best condition, and then red is the parts in the worst condition."

"Sorry, did you say something? I didn't hear you," Stef said.

"I was just mumbling to myself." I didn't want to tell Stef about my newfound ability, whatever the hell it was. I looked up from the engine. "Is the crankshaft the problem?"

Stef nodded. "Yeah, it is. It's almost completely snapped in half. I'm about to take it out." She picked up a wrench and moved under the hood. "Here, take this." She handed me a detached piston head. When I took my hands off the car, the glow around the engine parts disappeared. I took the piston head and put it down on the table before returning to the car and looking into the engine again. As soon as I put my hands on the car, the various parts lit up again in the green and yellow and orange glows.

Stef took out a bright-orange-hued piston rod. "This piston rod needs to be replaced as well. Look, it's almost completely worn out." She handed me the rod.

I put it down next to the piston head, which wasn't glowing at all. As I watched, the glow faded from the piston rod as well. Strange.

Stef pulled out the broken crankshaft. "Sadly, I don't have a crankshaft on hand. I'll have to make one from scratch." She walked over to an arc welder in the corner, and picked up a mask that was leaning on the side of it, along with some gloves. She started to pull on the gloves, while I stood awkwardly off to the side. I had no idea if I should leave or stay and watch. She started to pull on the welding gloves but then stopped and looked at me. "Why don't you go fiddle around with the car a little? See if there's anything else that's wrong with it." She pulled on her gloves, flipped up her mask and turned to the welder.

I looked down at the car in front of me. Charles had said that I had the ability to talk to cars. If that was true, then that meant that I could talk to the Honda.

"Hello?" I said quietly. There was no response. I tried again, a little louder. No response. Could the car even hear me? Stef was kind of performing open-heart surgery on it. Maybe it could only communicate with me when it was running. I looked over at the piston rod and head that was separated from the car. The glow signaling the condition of the part had faded when Stef took it out of the car, which probably meant that I could only see the colors of parts that were attached to the car. If I could talk to cars and sense the condition of engine parts on sight, then that meant I was almost definitely a son of the god of machines. Unless… Unless what? Something was nagging me in the back of my head. For some reason, it just didn't feel quite right to say that I was a son of Hephaestus.

"Done!" Stef flipped up her welding mask and came over, holding a newly crafted crankshaft. "Got it. Hand me that wrench, will you?"

I gave her the wrench she was pointing to and watched her install the new crankshaft. I put my hands on the car and watched the new bright green glow emerge around the crankshaft. It felt satisfying, somehow. Next, Stef reinstalled a new piston rod in the engine. After reassembling the other dismantled bits of the engine, she stepped back. "Well, I think that it's fixed. Let's see if it runs. Do you want to do the honors?" She dangled the keys in front of me.

"I'd love to," I said, taking them. I climbed into the car, inserted the key into the ignition, and turned it. The engine turned over smoothly without any hint of trouble. I pumped the gas a little, revving the engine. The car didn't move, thanks to the stand it was on.

Stef put her ear next to the motor and listened. "It's working!" she exclaimed.

I revved the engine higher and listened with satisfaction the sound of the well-tuned engine. This car had been well taken care of.

_Thank you,_ a voice said. It was the car.

"You're welcome," I whispered. I turned off the car and got out. "Well, now what?" I asked.

Stef winked. "Watch." She went over to a panel on the wall and slid it open, revealing a large red button on the wall.

The Hepahestus cabin seemed to have a thing for big red buttons.

Stef pushed the button, and the car disappeared.

I stared openmouthed at the spot where the car had been. "How- what? What? It- it was there- and now it's not- where-"

Stef closed the panel. "This garage is enchanted so that whenever you press this button, it summons a broken-down car from somewhere in the world, and we fix it. When it's finished, we push the button again, and it sends the car back to where it came from, and the Mist makes the owner think that he took it to be fixed at a mortal garage or something."She smiled slyly. "Sometimes, if it's a really nice car, we'll take it out for a spin before sending it back. We've had a Mustang and a Camaro, and once, a Chevrolet Corvette Z06, come in. The clutch was destroyed on the Corvette. Took us almost all day to repair. It was worth it once we finished, though."

I stared at the space where the Honda had been. "That's awesome. The camp must have gone crazy that day."

"Actually, they didn't. This garage is a well-kept secret. We only tell Hephaestus kids about this."

"But then why are you telling me?" I asked.

"I'll explain." Stef pointed towards the door. "You see that door? Only kids with Hephaestus' blood running through them can go through that door."

"Isn't that a little dangerous? I mean what if you got hurt or something, and nobody found you because they couldn't go through that door?"

"We thought of that," Stef said. She patted the wall. "There are sensors in these walls that measure our vital signs- heartbeat, pulse, all of that. If someone in here falls unconscious or is hurt in some way, the sensors trigger a mechanism that simultaneously takes you out of the room and triggers an alarm in the Apollo cabin."

"How does the thing take you out of the room?"

She shrugged. "It's complicated. Beckendorf is the only one who really knows how it works. The point is, it gets the job done, and it's a literal lifesaver. So that way, no one gets injured in here."

I nodded. "Cool."

"More importantly," Stef said, "That door only lets kids with Hephaestus blood pass through. And you're currently on this side of the door, so that's why I'm telling you this." She looked expectantly at the space above my head.

It dawned on me. "You're saying that I'm a son of Hephaestus?"

"It's the only way you could get through that door. All you have to wait for now is to be claimed."

I looked up at the ceiling. "Hey dad, anytime now would be fine."

Nothing happened. No spinning hologram, not even a clap of thunder.

Stef shrugged. "Maybe he's busy."

Suddenly, the door opened, and Jake and Beckendorf came in. "Stef, have you seen Jackson anywh- Oh." Beckendorf trailed off as he saw me. Jake looked at me, then back at the door, and then back at me, and then at the space above my head. He frowned briefly, but then shook his head and shrugged.

Beckendorf was looking at me and grinning. "Well, Jackson, you've just been claimed by Hephaestus. The proof is in the doorway. Welcome to cabin nine."

I held up my hands. "Hold up. Have I actually been claimed by Hephaestus? I'm not going to believe that Hephaestus is my dad just because a magic door told me so." I pointed at the space above my head. "When his symbol shows up over my head, I'll believe it. Uh- what's his symbol?"

"A hammer," Stef supplied.

"Thanks. When a floating hammer shows up above my head, I'll believe that I'm a son of Hephaestus. Beckendorf, has this door ever made a mistake?"

He frowned. "Well, it's tuned to let anyone with Hephaestus blood running through them in… So theoretically, you wouldn't need to be his son. Maybe you're his grandson? Your dad could have been a demigod…"

Off to the left, Jake paled drastically when he heard the word 'grandson.'

"Look, if you don't mind, I'd like to stay in the Hermes cabin until I actually get claimed," I said to Beckendorf, who looked somewhat disappointed. "Nothing personal, I just want to make sure that I'm really a son of Hephaestus before moving in."

He nodded. "Oh, all right, then. That's understandable. I guess the tour's over?"

"Yeah. Thanks for showing me around."

"Anytime, I guess."

I started towards the door to break the awkwardness that had suddenly fallen. "So, anyway, uh, bye."

I walked out of the forges and towards the Hermes cabin, mulling over what I had done in the garage. Apparently, I was a son of Hephaestus. But why hadn't he claimed me? It wasn't like he was busy or anything. He was immortal. Unless…

What if he wasn't my father?

What there was another god like Hephaestus who was my parent, who was directly related to Hephaestus? It could have been a demigod son of Hephaestus who then became a god. But who?

As I approached the Hephaestus cabin, I decided to put the subject of my godly parent on the back burner for a while. Right now, I had more important things on my mind. Namely, the Red Sox- Tigers game that started in ten minutes.

{_Line Break_}

Later on, I forced myself to go to archery class on time, even though that meant missing the end of the Red Sox-Tigers game on the radio. I knew I would regret it, but I went anyway because I didn't know what the punishment for missing a class was, and I sure as hell didn't want to find out. I was hoping that Lee wouldn't be there, but when I showed up at three o'clock, there he was, but with his annoying thousand-watt smile somewhat wilted. I plastered a smile that felt more like a grimace onto my face and approached him. He saw me coming.

"Crossley," he said in greeting.

"Fletcher," I replied.

He handed me a bow and an arrow." "Why don't we try to improve on your absolutely horrible shooting from last time? You can only go upwards from rock bottom."

"I'd love to, but there's so much wind coming from your mouth that I can't shoot straight."

Lee sighed. "Jackson, that attitude isn't helping your shooting any."

"My attitude? You were the one who was being an asshole to me last Sunday! Maybe if you don't just blather on about how bad I am at shooting and try to actually _help_ me, I would be better at this!"

This was not going well. The lesson hadn't even reached a minute long and I was already getting mad at him. There was just something about Lee that put me off.

Lee sighed. "Fine. If your shooting improves, I'll try to be nicer." He motioned towards the target twenty feet away. "Take a shot."

"Sure." I put the arrow back and started to pull the string back, before the arrow fell off. I tried again and fumbled the string as I was getting the arrow on, causing the arrow to fall off again. Lee didn't even try to hide his snickering. I glared at him. "Do you mind? I'm trying to shoot. Besides, what did I say about you trying to be nicer to me?"

Lee put his hand over his mouth, muffling the snickers somewhat. "Carry on."

I finally got the arrow in and pulled the string back far enough that it wouldn't fall to the ground like a dead pigeon, and not so far back that the string would snap. Behind me, Lee quietly muttered something. He'd said that so quietly that I shouldn't have heard it. But at just the right moment, the breeze brought the sound of his words to my ears.

I whipped around and faced him. "What did you just say?"

Lee's face was expressionless. "Nothing, nothing at all, really. I was just commenting on the wind direction."

"So what's the wind direction?" I challenged.

"Three miles per hour to the northwest," he said quickly and confidently.

Well, he'd beaten me. I couldn't prove that he'd said something else. I turned back around and readied my shot. Right as I was about to shoot, Lee mumbled something again.

I looked back at him as I released the arrow. "What did you say just now? You sure as hell weren't commenting on the wind direction."

"Eyes on your shot, Jackson," was all he said. He had a huge grin on his face.

I looked towards where I'd shot my arrow and saw one very angry kid stalking towards us. He had an arrow stuck in his wooden practice shield.

Oops.

As the kid came closer, I noticed that it was Rafael from the Hephaestus cabin.

"All right, which one of you bastards thought it would be funny to shoot this arrow at me?" he said fiercely, yanking the projectile out of his shield and waving it at us.

Lee pointed at me with an expression of angelic innocence. Rafael spun to face me.

Crap.

"Uh- sorry about that. It was an accident. I was shooting my arrow, and then Lee distracted me by saying something, and I looked at him right as I was shooting my arrow," I stammered out.

Rafael glared at me for several tense seconds. Then his face brightened. "Oh, you're the new Hephaestus kid. No hard feelings." He tossed me the arrow and walked off.

Lee looked at me with genuine interest on his face. "What was that about, Jackson? If I heard right, that guy just called you 'the new Hephaestus kid.'"

"It's not that simple. They _think_ that I'm a son of Hephaestus, but I actually haven't been claimed yet. Beckendorf thinks that I'm as good as claimed, though," I explained.

Lee's face brightened. "Well, since you might be claimed soon, allow me to welcome you to Camp Half-blood, Jackson." He put out his hand. "It's good to see a new kid get claimed."

I looked down at Lee's hand. What the hell was he doing? He'd been an asshole to me right up until I told him that I might be claimed by Hephaestus. Now he was acting all nice and-

Oh.

Fuck no.

Just no.

"That's what you said!" I said angrily.

"What?" Lee said, looking baffled.

"'I'll be nice to you when you get claimed.' That's what you said the first time! You said you were talking about the wind. Well, apparently not!"

Lee looked like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Uh- well- I actually didn't say exactly that- uh-"

_Busted._

"Ha! You did say that! You're just being nice to me now because I might be _claimed!_ It all makes sense now. You were a jerk to me at first because I was nothing but a lowly little _unclaimed!_" I spat the last word like it was an epithet.

Lee's face crumpled inwards, but I would bet money that he only felt guilty for being caught out.

"Now you're nice because I might actually be worth your time! Well, let me tell you something. I'd rather run naked through camp than be friends with you! Fletcher, you're an asshole." I punctuated my last words by punching him in the nose, as hard as I could. The crunch was satisfying as he collapsed to the ground. "So long, Lee. I hope I don't see you again." I strolled off the archery range. I was done with archery class for a long time.

**A/N: What do you think? Please review, because reviews and feedback are all it takes to make this story better! Thank you! **


	7. Chapter 7: A phone call in the night

Chapter seven

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: Here it is! Chapter seven! Please read and review! Reviews are the lifeblood of this fiction! Thank you! **

I trudged into the Hermes cabin and dropped onto my sleeping bag. I studied my knuckles, which had a small amount of blood on them, and wondered if Lee was still on the ground at the archery range. Probably not. He'd probably picked himself up and gone to Chiron or Mr. D.

The feeling of getting revenge on Lee was starting to fade, replaced by dread and remorse. I couldn't believe what I'd done. I'd punched a head counselor in the face, and I didn't have any proof that Lee had actually said what he had said. It was my word, the word of a camper who had barely been here a week, versus the word of a head counselor who'd probably been here for years.

What had I done?

"You're back pretty early from archery class," Grant remarked, interrupting my thoughts, as he sat down next to me.

I looked up from my knuckles. "Yeah."

"How'd you get out?"

"I punched Lee in the face and left," I answered shortly.

Everyone in the Hermes cabin stopped what they were doing and looked at me with wide eyes.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud.

"You _WHAT?_" Grant gasped. The look on his face suggested that he thought I was a violent, raving lunatic. He had every right to think that, as well.

"Do you know what Lee was doing before I punched him?"

"No, but Jackson, why the Hades would you do that?"

I sighed. "Let me explain. I didn't just go and punch him without justification."

"How do you justify what you did?!"

I stood up. "I'll explain. Where's Kaia? She needs to hear this."

"Right here!" Kaia said. "Jackson, what did you get yourself into _now?!_"

Everyone in the Hermes cabin was still looking at me in stunned silence. Finally, Hector spoke in a low voice from across the cabin. "Jackson. You have a very deep and shit-filled hole to dig yourself out of. You better start talking."

I sat down, took a deep breath, and began. "It all started when I showed up for my first lesson."

{_Line Break_}

By the end of my explanation, Hector was purple in the face and clenching and unclenching his fists. "So let me get this straight," he said with a barely controlled undertone of ferocity, "Lee Fletcher treated you like dirt because you were _unclaimed?_"

"That's right," I said.

Hector stood up. "I'll fucking strangle his scrawny little Apollo neck!"

Before he could move any further, Addie pulled him back down. "Don't do anything rash. You'll regret it later."

"I don't care!" Hector exploded. "He's being a fucking racist! I'm unclaimed; I'd like to see his face when I brutally murder him!"

"Hold on!" Travis yelled. "Can we really believe that Jackson's telling us the truth about his encounter with Lee? Lee doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would do that."

Hector fixed his murderous glare on Travis. "Do I have to strangle your biased neck as well?" he growled.

Connor stepped forward and between Travis and Hector. "Hey, none of that. Both of you. Travis, be quiet. You're aggravating Hector. Hector, stop making death threats. It's not good for our health."

Hector sneered at Connor. "I think that Lee doesn't need to have good health at all. Who's with me?"

There was a small chorus of nods and _yeahs_, making Travis and Connor look uncomfortable, and giving Hector a look of satisfaction. Things were going to get ugly fast unless something happened.

"Wait!" I yelled.

Everyone in the cabin looked at me. I swallowed. Did I really want to stop them from going after Lee?

"Don't," I said finally. "Just, don't."

"Why?" someone asked.

"We're already in hot water with the Ares cabin. Why should we get in trouble with the Apollo cabin as well? I'll fight my own battles."

There was a general murmur of assent at those words. Even Hector looked slightly pacified. "Fine," he said. "But if Lee Fletcher doesn't stop being an ass to you, I'm going to kill him, and there's nothing you can do," he finished grimly.

Before anyone could say anything else, the door to the Hermes cabin opened, revealing an irate-looking Chiron and a very smug-looking Lee Fletcher. At least, I thought it was Lee. He had a mountain of gauze wrapped around his nose, and I could barely see his eyes or mouth. Chiron made eye contact with me and sighed heavily. "Mr. Crossley, will you please come with me?"

I stepped forward. "I'm coming."

Hector and several other kids stood up like they wanted to prevent me from leaving, or grab Lee, but I waved them off with a hard glare. Thirty sets of eyes followed me out of the Hermes cabin as I left with

Chiron and Lee. Nobody said anything, but some joker started singing "It's sad, so sad… It's a sad, sad situation…"

How fitting.

We went to the Big House in silence, where Chiron escorted Lee and me into the room with Seymour on the wall. We sat down at a table with lemonade and corn chips on it, but none of us touched the refreshments.

Chiron looked at me. "Jackson, Lee is accusing you of punching him in the nose without being provoked. This is very serious."

I looked from Lee to Chiron. "Lee's half right."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Please explain."

"I did punch Lee." Chiron's eyebrows traveled miles upward and Lee looked gleeful through his bandages, but I continued. "But I was provoked."

Lee's face avalanched from gleeful to panicked in seconds.

"Explain what you mean by 'provoked,'" Chiron said.

I recounted the events of what happened during my first two archery classes to Chiron. By the end of my recollections, Chiron was regarding Lee with a contemplative stare. Lee had become very interested in a framed picture of Dionysus on the wall next to us.

"Lee," Chiron began. "What Mr. Crossley just said is very serious. Do you wish to change your story of what transpired this afternoon?"

Lee shook his head. "He'd bying," he mumbled. His injured nose was messing up his speech. He was actually saying, "He's lying."

"Well, then," Chiron said, "I am going to assume that Mr. Crossley's words are true, Mr. Fletcher. This is very serious, and I will ask you to stay behind for a chat," he said, with a look that made it clear that Lee was in a hole as deep as I was. "I will issue punishments to both of you. Jackson, you will have to do cleanup duty in the stables for the next two weeks, and in addition, you will have extra dishwasher duty for a week. That is all for you."

I breathed a sigh of relief. That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I could deal with extra cleaning duties. Now that I knew that I wouldn't be expelled or punished in a cruel or unusual way, I could relax.

Chiron turned to Lee. "Mr. Fletcher, you will on dishwasher duty for two weeks, and one week of cleanup duty in the stables. In addition, you'll miss the next Capture the Flag game this Saturday."

Lee stood up angrily. "What? I dib't do abythib!"

Chiron's glare was icy. "I would believe that giving disadvantageous treatment to a demigod because he is unclaimed would qualify as 'doing something.'" He stepped back from the table. "I also expect that you, Mr. Crossley, will show up on time for your next archery class. And I expect you, Mr. Fletcher, to show up on time as well."

"What?" I said, outraged. "Did you not hear what Lee was doing?!"

"What _I_ was doib?!" Lee said indignantly. "He pubched me ib the bace!"

Chiron held up a hand signaling us to be quiet. "Maybe spending some more time together will convince you two to be nicer to each other. Also, archery is a sport that you must at least try to have a basic knowledge of. It can be a survival skill."

Lee and I stood in stony silence. "The meeting is over, gentlemen," Chiron said. "You may leave, Jackson. Mr. Fletcher, you are staying here."

Not wanting to turn down a ticket out, I left in an instant and sauntered down to the Hermes cabin. I had gotten punished, but I so had Lee, and he had gotten off worse than me. That felt like a victory in my book. What I couldn't understand was why Chiron had listened to me at all when Lee was obviously much more trustworthy. I would have to ask him about it later.

I arrived at the cabin with the banner of victory flying over my head and opened the door. Everyone in the cabin turned to look at me. It was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop.

"Back so soon?" Hector asked gruffly.

"I got two weeks of cleanup duty in the stables, and one week of dishwasher duty," I said.

"And…?" he said.

I grinned. "There is no 'and.' Lee got two weeks of dishwasher duty, one week of stables cleanup duty, and he's going to miss the next match of Capture the Flag."

The entire cabin broke out in claps and cheers. Hector slapped me on the back so hard that I thought I would choke. I slapped hands with ten kids whose names I didn't even know on my way to my sleeping bag. Grant and Kaia gave me a high-five, as well.

When the noise died down, Hector stood up. "We can forget about revenge now!" he proclaimed. That got a few laughs.

I sat down. "Bad news," Grant said.

"What?" I asked.

"The Red Sox lost, six to five."

"I guess I didn't miss much. They're still in first place, right?"

"Yeah, by a lot."

"That's all that matters. If the Red Sox are in first place, everything is all right," I declared confidently.

"Truer words have never been spoken by a Red Sox fan," Kaia said dryly.

{_Line Break_}

That night, I had a very strange dream.

I was standing inside a chariot that was going at full speed down a road. All around me, open fields flew by as the chariot blazed down the path. The sun was starting to set in the distance. Next to me was a teenager taller than me, gripping the reins white-knuckled, with sweat pouring down his face as he hunched over the top of the chariot. His mouth was set in a tight line, and his eyes were focused intently on a point in the distance. He was breathing heavily through his nose and flicking the reins repeatedly.

"Um… hello?" I asked tentatively. The charioteer didn't reply, or show any signs of acknowledgement at all. Weird. I surveyed the road ahead in hopes of sighting our destination. All I could see was a glimmering ribbon of blue on the horizon that was quickly growing bigger.

The driver's face brightened, and he straightened up. "The coastline," he whispered in ancient Greek. "I can win it!" He flicked the reins. "Faster!" In the distance, the setting sun seemed to briefly glow brighter. The chariot sped up somehow, and the ocean grew from a ribbon to a massive blue blanket that covered the land in front of us. My companion in the chariot flicked his reins once again, and the horses put on one final burst of speed, and the chariot thundered onto the beach, kicking up a spray of sand, and into the water, where we screeched to a halt. The chariot overturned in the water, sending out a spray that doused me in seawater. I climbed out of the chariot in a slight daze. The driver climbed out as well and looked across the water at the setting sun, which hadn't touched the water yet. Upon seeing the sun, he let out a scream of joy and fell to his knees in the water.

"I've done it," he whispered in an awed voice.

Suddenly, from behind us, there was a blinding flash of light, and an agonized scream.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Before I could look, my dream dissolved, and I woke up. I blinked and looked around. Everyone else around me was sleeping peacefully. A faint sea breeze lingered in my nose, giving me pause. Had I actually gone to wherever that place was, in my sleep? Really, it wasn't that outlandish, considering that most of the laws of physics and science that I knew had been broken in the last week or so. I reached under my sleeping bag and took out my cell phone to check the time.

It was 2:16 in the morning.

I started to put my cell phone away, before I noticed something. I had eleven missed calls from Trey, ten missed calls from Adam, and ten missed calls from Stan. The most recent call was from this morning, from Adam.

Oh, man.

Demigods weren't supposed to use cell phones, since they sent out a signal to nearby monsters. But Camp Half-blood had magical borders to keep monsters out. Maybe I could just make one call really quick. My friends were probably worried sick about me.

I picked up my phone and stealthily left the Hermes cabin. Outside, I started to stroll in the direction of the Big House. I dialed Trey's number and listened to the ringing on the other side. After nine rings, the line picked up. I heard several clunks, a grunt, and curiously enough, a squeak. Finally, an extremely sleepy voice filtered through the speaker.

"What?"

"Trey," I said.

Trey's voice was immediately alert. "Jackson? Is that you? What are you doing, calling me at…" He paused, then came back, sounding incredulous. "Two-fifteen in the goddamn morning?!"

"Uh-"

"And why haven't you returned any of the other calls?" he continued. "Are you okay? How's the summer camp going? How come you didn't tell us you were leaving?"

"Trey, calm down," I said. "I'm fine. The reason that I couldn't return any of your other calls was, uh…" My mind raced for an answer. "My summer camp has a strict "No cell phones" policy, and they take your cell phone away when you arrive, and return it when you leave. I had to sneak into the camp director's office when he was asleep and nab my phone. That's why I couldn't return any of your calls, and that's why I'm calling so late at night."

I heard a sigh of relief from the other end. "So you're fine. Thank god."

_You don't know who to really thank, Trey,_ I thought. Out loud, I said "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about leaving for summer camp. It was a little hectic. I thought I was supposed to leave a week after my birthday, but I was supposed to leave the day after my birthday. I didn't have enough time to tell you guys I was leaving, because I was running behind schedule. I was going to call you when I got to camp, but then they took away my cell phone when I got there." I silently thanked my demigodly instincts for making up such a spectacular excuse.

"I see," Trey said. "I'm just glad that you're not kidnapped or trapped in a human trafficking circle. What's the camp like?"

"This place is awesome!" I gushed.

"Really?"

"Yeah. There's an epic rock climbing wall that moves, a canoe lake, an archery range, and a camp store. The food's great. Every Saturday, there's a game of Capture the Flag where one half of the camp plays the other half of the camp. It's only a two-minute hike from the camp to Long Island Sound, and there's a beach-"

"Did you say Long Island?" Trey interrupted.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering. Keep going."

"Anyway," I said, "There's a beach, and-"

"Hold on," Trey said. There was a pause, and then someone said something on Trey's end of the line. As Trey talked to the other person, I looked up from the phone and noticed that I'd arrived at the Big House. I walked up to the porch steps and leaned against the railing.

Trey came back on the line. "I'm back," he said. "Sorry about that. I woke my little sister up by accident. What were you saying?"

"Anyway, as I was saying-"

"Mr. Crossley, do you have a reason for lurking on my porch at two-thirty in the morning?"

I froze, lowered my phone, and slowly turned around. Chiron was standing there with his arms folded and a moderately irritated look on his face.

"Jackson? You there?" Trey's voice came out of the phone, drawing Chiron's attention to it. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Uh, Trey, I might have to call you back."

"What's wrong?"

"My camp director just showed up and he doesn't look to happy."

I heard muffled laughter coming out of the other end of the phone. "I guess I won't be calling you back, then?"

"No," I said. "Uh, bye. Nice talking to you."

"I'll see you in September." There was a click from the other end of the line.

I closed my phone and looked at Chiron. "This camp doesn't happen to have a no-phones rule, does it?"

Chiron smiled wanly. "There is no rule, but it is generally frowned upon to use a cell phone here. Have you been informed of the hazards to demigods that they present?"

"Yeah, they send out a signal to monsters and stuff, right?" I said.

Chiron sighed. "Indeed. But what, may I ask, made you think that it was okay to use a phone here, as opposed to anywhere else?"

"I thought that the magical borders would maybe block the signal?"

He shook his head. "The borders will keep out monsters, and technically, that should make it safe enough for you to make a call, but it is still prudent to refrain from making using your cell phone unless you absolutely have to do so. Keep that in mind for the future, when you may not be within the protective borders of the camp."

I pocketed my phone. "I'll try to remember that." I started to leave, until I realized that Chiron might have a few answers to some of the questions I still had. I might as well take the opportunity to ask them while he was there. I stopped and came back up the stairs. "Wait."

Chiron, who had been about to go inside, stopped. "Yes?"

"I have a question."

He closed the door that he had been about to enter through. "Ask away."

"Are there ancient laws that forbid the gods from having continuous direct interaction with their children?"

He gazed skyward in thought for a moment. "I believe there are, yes. Why?"

"My mom told me that my godly parent couldn't visit me because of some ancient laws or other things like that. I wanted to make sure that he wasn't just putting one over her so he could escape the problems of having a child."

Chiron looked horrified. "Surely not! The ancient laws are something that the gods must abide by. Otherwise, they face severe consequences."

Exultation flooded through me at the realization that my dad, in fact, did not intentionally abandon me. "Sorry I woke you up," I apologized.

"I was already awake. I've been battling insomnia for the last week or so. It is quite unpleasant, and I feel that it is a side effect from almost losing my immortality," Chiron said. He did look rather sleep-deprived.

"How exactly does one go about almost losing their immortality?" I didn't even know that Chiron was immortal.

He sighed. "It's a very long story."

I sat down in one of the deck chairs. "I have plenty of time. After the dream I just had, I won't be going back to sleep anytime soon."

"Very well, then." Chiron settled his centaur rear end onto a deck chair. "I shall begin."

He went on to tell me the entire story of his immortality and how it worked, how he was fired from his job, Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse, and Tyson's quest into the Sea of Monsters, and how Thalia was resurrected. The entire story was jaw-dropping. It literally sounded like something out of a freaking storybook.

"So that's why everyone thinks Percy is the child of the prophecy? I have to admit, he's tougher than he looks," I admitted.

Chiron nodded. "A lot of people have come to that conclusion about Percy." He shifted. "You should return to your cabin. If you stay out any longer, you might be found by the cleaning harpies."

"So?"

"You would be eaten," he replied solemnly.

"Oh." I stood up in a hurry. "I'll be going, then."

"Have a good night," Chiron nodded wearily. "I shall try to defeat my insomnia, and you shall try to abstain from using a cell phone in the future," he finished in a voice that was more like an order than a suggestion. He went inside the Big House, leaving me alone on the porch.

Off to my left, I heard a rustling. It sounded like wings far-off in the distance. Harpies had wings, didn't they?

I vaulted off the porch and hightailed back to the Hermes cabin. I did _not_ want to find out if the harpies actually ate anyone who went out at night.

{_Line Break_}

Later, at breakfast, I was seated between Grant and Kaia, enjoying some French toast and a luscious bowl of fruit salad. "Fruit salad is one of mankind's greatest inventions," I proclaimed around a mouthful of grapes and cantaloupes, to Kaia.

"Oh?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Would you like to hear the story of its origin?"

I scooped up a pineapple cube with my spoon. "I'd love to."

Kaia began. "Long ago, there was a mortal who bragged the she could make a better salad than Demeter could. Demeter, of course, upon hearing this, became enraged and challenged the mortal to a salad-making contest. The winner would be judged by Dike, the goddess of fair judgment. Demeter made her salad from her finest greens, creating a true work of art. Upon tasting it, Dike declared that it was the best greens that she had tasted. Demeter was sure of her victory, and laughed at what the mortal had made. The mortal had brought with her a collection of chopped pomegranates, pineapples, grapes, strawberries, and an unknown green fruit, creating a salad of fruit. But when Dike tasted it the fruit salad, she immediately declared that the winner was the mortal, and that the best ingredient in her salad, the unknown green fruit, was better than all of the greens in Demeter's salad. Demeter was furious, and in her rage, turned the mortal into the green fruit that was in the salad. Dike demanded that Demeter turn the mortal back, but Demeter refused. Dike then released the girl's soul from the fruit and into the underworld. In her memory, Dike named the green fruit after the mortal. The mortal's name was Cantaloupe."

I choked on, coincidentally, a piece of cantaloupe. "_What?!_"

Kaia smirked. "Did you actually believe that story?"

"Wait- THAT WAS MADE UP?!"

"Yeah."

"How did you just make that story up on the fly?!"

Kaia just took a sip of her orange juice and pantomimed putting on sunglasses. "Deal with it."

I shook my head and went back to my fruit salad. "You're unbelievable."

She bit into an apple. "That's how I like it."

I looked at Grant. "Has she done this stuff before?"

Grant nodded. "Her sass needs to be declared a weapon of mass destruction."

At that moment, Chiron stood up and clapped his hooves against the ground. "Attention, campers!" he called out.

The pavilion fell silent as every camper turned to look at Chiron.

"I have an announcement to make about the chariot races," he called.

Murmurs immediately broke out among the campers. I looked at Grant. "Chariot races?"

Grant looked hugely excited. "The chariot races!"

"What are they?"

"This year, the chariot races were reinstated. At the end of every month, there is a race. Each cabin that enters the race has a chariot. The cabin that wins the race of that gets no chores for the upcoming month. This is a huge deal. Do you realize just how much free time we could get without chores?" A faraway look came into his eyes. "Imagine… the stuff that could be done…"

Kaia reached over and smacked him in the back of the head. "I recognize the look that a Hermes kid gets when they're planning something. Forget it."

Grant smiled sheepishly and rubbed his head where Kaia had hit him. "Ow, Kaia, that actually hurt. Anyway- wait, Chiron's going to say something."

I turned back to face Chiron, who had stood up again and was waiting for quiet. When it came, he spoke again. "We will be continuing the chariot races for one last month. On July thirtieth, we will hold the race to determine which cabin will be without chores for August. The sign-up sheet will be posted outside the Big House today after lunch." He sat back down.

The pavilion started buzzing again with excitement. I looked at Grant. "Is the Hermes cabin going to sign up?"

"Heck yeah!" he exclaimed. "How could we not? In fact, I'll go double-check with Travis and Connor right now." He stood up and went down to where Travis and Connor were sitting.

I thought back to when I had been driving the Dodge Charger to camp, and I felt an urge to go try out for the chariot races. It just felt like a pull. I wanted to do it.

Grant shook me out of my thoughts by sitting down next to me again. "Travis and Connor said that they're definitely going to be entering the race. Our chariot is still trashed from when Clarisse and the Ares chariot flipped it over in the last race, and they want revenge."

"Is the chariot fixable?"

"Probably." He tilted his head at me. "You know, that reminds me. The rumor mill around camp is that you're a son of Hephaestus."

I guess that I should have expected this when Lee found out that Hephaestus might be my father.  
"Do you believe that?"

Grant shrugged. "I'm not sure. It depends on who started the rumor."

Suddenly, someone clapped a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Hector, Travis, and Connor.

"Jackson, a quick word?" Hector asked.

"Sure." I stood up. Hector, Travis, and Connor led me over to the corner of the pavilion.

"What's up?" I asked.

"With the rumors around camp about your parentage…" Travis began.

"Hector decided that we should give you a try in the driver's seat of the chariot…" Connor continued.

"Because he thinks that we aren't competent enough," Travis finished.

I gaped at them. "Are you serious? I can't drive!"

Travis coughed loudly. "Cough… entrance of the century… hack… Dodge Charger…"

"Oh." I thought back to the night of my arrival. Strangely, Hector had a point. When I was driving that night, it felt almost like second nature. That, combined with the evidence that I might be a son of Hephaestus, made Hector's suggestion viable.

"It's just a feeling," Hector added. "But I feel like you would be better than the rest of the competition."

I nodded. "Okay, then. What do you want me to do?"

"Be at the chariot track next Monday at five A.M for a tryout," Travis said.

"Deal." I shook hands with the three of them, and returned to my seat.

"What was that about?" Grant asked when I got back.

"Hector thinks that I might be good enough to drive the chariot in the next race."

Grant looked at me, startled. "What?!"

I shrugged. "Exactly my reaction. Hector says that it's a feeling he has."

Kaia leaned over and snagged a peach from Grant's plate. "I've learned to trust Hector on the feelings he gets. He's usually right."

"I still don't see how he could think that I'm a better driver than Travis or Connor, because- Oh, hi there, Chiron. Something wrong?"

Chiron had come up next to us. "Nothing is wrong, Mr. Crossley. I just thought that I might remind you that your punishments for punching Mr. Fletcher in the face start today. Report to the stables after breakfast."

"Oh. Cleanup duty?"

Chiron nodded.

I slid my toast away from me. Strangely enough, I'd lost my appetite.

{_Line Break_}

The week flew by as I really settled into a groove. Every day I would train with Thalia, and then train with Clarisse. The double training was really speeding up my learning curve, and I now felt slightly competent with a spear in my hands. Thanks to my punishment for punching Lee, I spent an unhealthy amount of time on pooper-scooper duty in the stables. It was not pleasant.

{_Line Break_}

On Saturday night, I suited up for another game of Capture the Flag. This time, it was Hermes, Apollo, Zeus, Poseidon, and Demeter against Athena, Ares, Hephaestus, Dionysus, and Aphrodite. Grant was on the defense squad, and Kaia was on the advance team. After a few last-minute directions from the Stolls, who were running our team, we spread out. Percy and Thalia were leading an attack squad, while everyone else was either on border patrol or guarding the flag. I had border patrol again, and this time I was going solo. I was by the creek, surveying the woods.

Suddenly, I heard a twig snap from across the creek. I froze, before ducking behind a tree, clutching my spear. I peered around the trunk and saw two armored figures standing at the other bank of the creek. One of them was speaking, and I recognized her voice as Annabeth's.

"Jake, you've already told me about your suspicions, and my answer is the same," she said firmly.

"But you were the one who thought he was his father originally!" the other figure, who was Jake, argued.

"I never said he was his father. I just said it was a possibility."

"Annabeth, look at the facts. He never drove a car before and he drove like he was a natural. He could _talk_ to a car, for the god's sake!"

_He was talking about me! _

I listened more closely to their conversation and risked leaning my head out a little more past the tree.

"Those can be powers of a child of Hephaestus as well."

"But the odds- _the odds_- of a child of Hephaestus having those powers are astronomically low- lower than-"

"Lower than the odds of Percy being a son of Poseidon?" Annabeth interrupted.

"But that was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Percy really isn't even supposed to be here."

Annabeth's tone became dangerously low. "This is a time of war. When Greek mythology flares up, strange powers are manifested in unlikely people. Beings rise again that haven't been seen in decades. Jackson-"

Yup. They were talking about me, for sure.

"- could be a son of Hephaestus with wartime powers."

Jake sounded confused. "I don't understand. What's 'wartime powers?'"

"There is a theory," Annabeth began, "that in times of conflict, demigods have more, greater powers than during peacetime, because the Fates are balancing the conflict out."

"I still don't understand," Jake admitted.

"Let me explain. There used to be fire users, right?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah, but there hasn't been one in centuries."

"Well, one of your cabinmates, or a new half-blood, could learn how to use normally dormant fire powers, in response to the Titan war. The theory is that the godly genes in demigods react to conflicts and threats in like their mortal genes do."

"How does that work?"

"The mortal genes release adrenaline to speed up our bodies in a battle. The godly genes may activate in a much higher sense, making the demigod more powerful. When more powerful enemies show up, more powerful heroes come."

"So… you're saying that Jackson could be a son of Hephaestus who is more powerful because his godly genes are reacting to the upcoming war?"

"Exactly. It's happened before." Annabeth shook her head. "I don't believe your claim. If this was true, then Jackson would be dead. Zeus probably would have killed him himself. Or maybe Apollo. They both have a grudge against him."

This conversation was starting to sound a little like the conversation in the car back on the journey down to Camp Half-blood. Annabeth had mentioned a god who I might be a son of. What was his name? Vinny? Velcro?

My struggle to remember the name of the god was interrupted by Annabeth standing up. "We'll talk about this later. We have a flag to get to, you know."

To my horror, they started wading through the creek, towards the tree that I was hiding behind.

I was outnumbered, two to one. I needed to level the playing field a little. I needed the element of surprise. Directly above me, there was a massive dead tree branch. If I could get it to fall on them, it might knock them out.

Right as Annabeth and Jake passed me, I thrust my spear upwards into the branch with as much force as possible. With a tremendous _crack_, the branch fell, smacking Jake in the front of the head, and as he fell down on his back, landing on top of his shins, trapping him underneath. Annabeth escaped the path of the falling branch and spun around, wielding her dagger. I slipped behind the tree as she knelt by Jake.

"Jake? Are you hurt?" she asked.

Jake moaned and tried to push the branch off his legs. "I'm peachy. Can you help me get this off?"

As Annabeth started to raise the branch off of Jake, I stepped out from behind the tree and raised my spear over Annabeth, aiming to knock her out. Jake saw me behind Annabeth, and his eyes widened. "Behind you!" he yelled in warning.

Annabeth tucked and rolled out of the path of my spear as it smacked into the dirt and popped up, holding her dagger.

"Why were you guys talking about me back there?" I asked, as Annabeth and I circled each other.

Jake started and struggled harder against the branch. "Jackson?"

"Yeah." I tried a stab, which Annabeth dodged.

"How much of that did you hear?" Jake asked, as he tried wiggling out from under the branch, without success.

"Everything you said after you guys reached the creek," I answered, blocking a strike from Annabeth with my shield. "I'm guessing that you're having a difference of opinion on who my dad is."

Jake stopped struggling against the branch and tried reaching for his sword, which was a few feet out of his reach. "Exactly."

"Who do you think my dad is?" I asked Jake, blocking another strike from Annabeth with my shield.

"Vehiclos," Jake said grimly.

Thunder rumbled directly above us.

That was the name of the god Annabeth had mentioned on the first night. Vehiclos. The Greek God of transportation.

"He's wrong, though," Annabeth said. "Vehiclos was exiled from Olympus twenty years ago for insubordination to the Olympians. Zeus' last words to Vehiclos were something along the lines of 'Your children will pay dearly for your crimes.' As in, Zeus would kill any of Vehiclos' children. If you were Vehiclos' son, you would be dead right now." She slashed her dagger through a hole in my defenses and smacked me in the helmet with the flat of the blade. I staggered back.

"What if- what if- what if, by a freak chance, I was his son?" I asked, countering with a slash of my spear.

"Then Zeus would kill you when he found out," Annabeth said simply. She lowered her shoulder and charged into my raised shield, pushing me off balance. I tumbled backwards into the creek and my shield fell out of my grip. Annabeth put her foot on my chest as I raised my spear again. "Do you surrender?" she asked, pointing her dagger at my face.

"What happens if I surrender?" I asked.

"We would take your weapons away, and you would be taken prisoner," she replied.

"No way," I said firmly. Unexpectedly, I swept my spear at Annabeth's legs, knocking her onto the ground next to me. I scrambled up and put my knee onto Annabeth's chest, trapping her beneath me. "Do _you_ surrender?" I asked, wielding my spear at her.

After a pause, Annabeth's reply was an amused smirk. "Look behind you."

I felt the sharp, cold tip of not one but two celestial bronze swords pushing into the back of my neck.

"You should probably surrender, Jackson," Jake said from behind me.

I dropped my spear and slowly turned around. An Aphrodite girl stood there with Jake, their swords drawn and pointed at me. The tree branch that Jake had been stuck under laid nearby, cut in half.

"Surrender," the Aphrodite girl said firmly.

After a second, I held up my hands. "Fine, fine, you guys have me cornered." I was outnumbered.

The Aphrodite girl laughed as I started to get up. "That was easy. Let's-"

She never got to finish her sentence, because I kicked her sword away, jumped over Annabeth, splashed through the creek, and vanished into the woods on the other side. I risked a brief look behind me and saw Jake fording through the creek after me.

I blindly stumbled through the forest, tripping over roots and random boulders. The sounds of Jake's pursuit slowly grew further away, until finally, I couldn't hear him anymore. I slowed down and came into a clearing. A clearing with a blue flag planted in the middle of it. I looked around hastily. There was nobody around. Had they left the flag unguarded?

Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, I slinked through the clearing and grabbed the flag, stuffing it into my pocket. I turned to run and was greeted by the sight of five Ares campers coming out of the woods with their weapons drawn. One of them had a spear with sparks of electricity arcing around the tip. I knew who she was.

I was deep in enemy territory without any weapon of any sort, and I was facing obviously hostile enemies. I looked at the advancing Ares campers with a look of grim determination on my face.

It was time to see if I could run for my life.

I screamed "REMEMBER THE ALAMO!" and charged the nearest camper, bowling him over, and leaping over his sprawling form into the woods.

I flew through the forest with branches and leaves slapping me all over. The five campers charged after me, cursing loudly and raising the alarm. A blunt-tipped spear whistled by me, missing my head by only inches and lodging in a tree. Suddenly, up ahead, I saw the creek. I dared a look behind me. My pursuers wouldn't be able to catch me before I crossed the creek, which meant that I was home free. Already, I could see my teammates gathering on the other side of the creek, screaming and urging me on. I looked behind again and grinned. I could win this.

It was too bad that I never saw the tree coming.

**A/N: What do you think of the new chapter? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it somewhere in between? I'll never know, unless you click that precious review button! School has started, so you can expect less frequent updates now. Sorry about that. But I will update! Air Force Muffin does not abandon a story, because Air Force Muffin is not an asshole!**


	8. Chapter 8: The chariot race

Chapter Eight

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: Hello! Here's chapter eight! I would like to thank the anonymous reviewer who asked when the prologue ends and the storyline starts. This is the storyline that you're reading. There is no prologue. Right now, the story is all sort of slow build, but trust me, once Jackson gets claimed, the action will pick up. In fact, Jackson gets claimed at the end of this chapter, and the action ramps up from there on. If you have any further questions or suggestions (hey, that rhymed!), feel free to hit the review button. Thank you, and don't forget to review! Enjoy the chapter.**

I woke on the ground with several Hermes kids, including Kaia, looking at me worriedly.

I sat up, rubbing my forehead. "What happened?" I asked the nearest kid.

"You took a pretty bad hit there," he said, shaking his head. "You ran into a tree and dropped the flag."

"You all right, Jackson?" Kaia asked. "You hit that tree pretty hard."

"I'm fantastic, thanks," I quipped.

"Why don't you get back to the Hermes cabin? A bit of nectar and some sleep will take care of any injuries."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I've been knocked out three times in less than a month. This can't be good for my health."

"It probably isn't," Kaia affirmed. We started to walk back to the Hermes cabin. "If it weren't for godly healing foods, you'd probably have permanent damage. You're quite a character, Jackson."

{_Line Break_}

At dinner on Sunday night, Travis and Connor reminded me about the chariot tryouts tomorrow. So, at five o'clock in the morning, I slunk out of bed in a still half-asleep state and ambled my way through the cool early-morning air to the chariot track, where a small collection of campers from the Hermes cabin were gathered sleepily and shuffling their feet to stay awake. Most of them looked like they'd rolled out of bed and sleepwalked down here. The exceptions to this were Travis and Connor, who were talking animatedly and looked wide awake. Well, at least two people here were morning persons. Hector came up to me clutching two steaming paper cups.

"Morning," he said sleepily. He held out one of the cups. "Coffee?"

"Thanks," I said, taking the cup gratefully. I took a sip and relished the feeling of the hot caffeinated liquid entering my stomach. "Awfully early, isn't it?"

"It's so early that a damn rooster would go back to sleep right now," Hector groused. "I'm a morning person, just not a five-in-the-fucking-morning person." He took a swig of his coffee.

"Where'd the coffee come from?" I asked.

"The Stolls brought it. I don't know where they got the coffee, and I don't care," Hector said grumpily. "All I care about is getting this over with so I can go back to sleep."

We milled around for several more minutes with the warmth from the coffee slowly leaching into my hands.

Finally, the Stolls stood up. "Everyone gather around!" Travis called. The group of us made a circle around Travis and Connor.

"Good morning, everyone," Connor said cheerily.

No one responded.

"All right, then," he said in a slightly dejected tone. "As you know, we need new drivers for this chariot race, so we have invited this select group to show off their skills. Two of you will be the Hermes cabin's best chance at winning us a month without chores. We've already picked our first driver, Hector." Connor gestured at Hector, who raised a hand. "He'll be riding in the chariot with you to judge your driving skills."

"One of you will be in the chariot with him on July thirtieth," Travis continued. "Each of you are going to one lap around the track, and Hector will time you guys. Now, without further ado, let's begin!"

{_Line Break_}

After all of the other campers had gone around the track in the chariot with mixed results, it was my turn. I climbed into the chariot with Hector and gripped the reins of the horses.

"Ready?" Hector asked, holding up his stopwatch.

"Yeah." I flicked the reins, and the chariot pulled away, kicking up a cloud of dust. There was a long straight before the first corner, so I used that time to get acquainted with the chariot and build up speed. I looked down, and through my engine-condition sight, saw both axles and wheels working perfectly. I felt a strange pull. If we could go faster…

"First corner!" Hector warned.

I let up on the reins enough to slow down for the sharp turn. From instincts honed by years of go-karting, I hit the apex of the turn perfectly and flicked the reins on the way out of the turn, giving us a burst of speed.

Hector nodded appreciatively. "Good driving."

I kept my attention on the reins as we sailed through the second corner. Ahead of us now was a long straightaway, the longest on the track. I flicked the reins several times and felt the speed build up. Below us, the chariot almost felt like it was… singing. There was some sort of rhythm that I was tapping into. I concentrated on the song. The faster and smoother the song, the faster the chariot was going.

"Uh, Jackson?" Hector asked.

I looked over at him. "What?"

"Your eyes were closed. And the chariot's picking up speed," Hector noted concernedly.

"I'm fine. I'm just trying to get in tune with the chariot."

I focused on the chariot beneath me. Suddenly, the landscape around us blurred as the chariot accelerated tremendously.

"HOLY SHIT!" Hector gasped, grabbing onto the side. "How fast are we going?"

"How should _I_ know?" I replied. "This thing doesn't have a speedometer!"

Hector looked out at the road in front of us. "Holy mother of Zeus… This thing isn't built to go at speeds like this!"

Backing up his point, the sound of wood cracking reached our ears. Hector bent over the side of the chariot and cursed. "The back left wheel's breaking apart!"

"What?!" I leaned over the side and got a woodchip in the face from the dissipating wheel.

Hector looked up and his eyes bulged. "TURN!" he bellowed.

I shot up. The third turn of the track was shooting up to us. "Holy flying fu-"

I couldn't finish my exclamation because the back left wheel snapped in half, jolting the chariot up and off the ground and nearly jerking the reins out of my hands. The chariot swerved wildly as I struggled to control the careening chariot into the sharp corner. The chariot tipped dangerously to one side but stayed upright as it lurched through the curve. I grasped at the reins and righted the chariot, and on three wheels, it limped across the finish line. Hector and I climbed out of the chariot.

"Well?" Travis asked, as we approached the group. "What was his time?"

Wordlessly, Hector handed Travis the stopwatch. Travis glanced at it, and shook his head. They conferred in a group for several moments before facing us again. "We have a winner," Hector announced. He paused, and then spoke dramatically. "Jackson!"

"_What?!_" I yelped.

The other Hermes kids broke out into protesting clamor. Hector let loose with an ear-splitting whistle. "QUIET!" he bellowed, shutting us up.

"I picked Jackson because I think he's the one who has the best chance to deliver us victory," Hector said firmly. "Anyone who has a problem with that can take complaints up with me behind the Hermes cabin." He glared at us carefully. There was silence. "My decision is final. Congratulations, Jackson. You're the new chariot driver for the Hermes cabin." Hector slapped me on the back.

Finally, some of the campers began to grudgingly accept the situation. I was only a new camper in their eyes, but Hector was someone that they knew and trusted to do the right thing. I even got a few words of congratulations from Travis and Connor.

"Jackson, you have to bring the laurels to the Hermes cabin," Connor said earnestly. "We want no chores for a month." A gleam snuck into his eyes, almost the exact same face Grant had made before when he was talking about the month without chores. "We're counting on you and Hector."

I shook his hand. "You can bet that I'll do my best."

{_Line Break_}

July flew by. I trained alternately with Thalia and Clarisse, steadily learning how to wield a spear and win fights with it. Lee and I seethed in each other's presence, but cooler heads prevailed this time. Hector and I practiced furiously for the chariot race. I had settled comfortably into a new life as a demigod, and I was enjoying every day of it. July thirtieth dawned bright and sunny, and the chariot races were on.

All morning, Hector had been a nervous wreck. He kept checking and double-checking every detail on our chariot and our race strategy. His behavior was reminding me of a certain neurotic Gryffindor quidditch captain.

"Hector, you're acting like Oliver Wood," I said, as he examined the wheels on the chariot for what must have been the hundredth time.

Hector looked at me, confused. "Who?"

"Never mind," I said amusedly. "Don't you think that you're being a little obsessive?"

Hector ran his hands along the side of the chariot. "I just have the strangest feeling that something big is going to happen today."

"Like us winning the chariot race?"

He shook his head. "No, it's something else. Something bigger. I just wish that I could see what it was." He picked up his chestplate. "But never mind that. It's almost seven o'clock. Why don't we hook our horses up to the chariot and get our armor on and stuff like that?"

I shrugged. "Why not? Anything to keep you from checking the wheels for the hundredth time."

"Actually, the hundred and twenty-seventh time," Hector corrected. "Here, help me get the horses hooked up."

{_Line Break_}

After readying the horses, strapping our armor on, and Hector performing a last-minute check of every single thing that could possibly checked, we were ready at exactly three minutes before seven o'clock, when the chariot race was scheduled to begin. As Hector and I rolled the chariot out to the starting position, I took a look at our competition.

The Ares cabin had a huge blood-red chariot with a giant rocket launcher on the top, in addition to pointy things sticking out of every flat surface on the exterior of their chariot. Also, on the back was a large banner that said "HA HA" in big red letters.

The Apollo cabin had a bulky golden-colored chariot that had a turret on either side for an archer to shoot out of, and a huge boombox mounted on the back, blasting "I'm Winning" by Santana.

"I can't decide whether to run over Clarisse or Lee," Hector muttered, as we surveyed the chariots.

"Why don't we win so we can laugh in their faces?" I suggested.

A slow grin spread over Hector's face. "I like that one better."

The Hephaestus chariot trundled up to the starting line. It was low-slung, sleek, and probably full of more surprises than Chuck Norris' underpants.

The Demeter cabin had entered the race with a chariot that looked like a gardening shed on wheels and had sunflowers growing around the wheels.

The Aphrodite cabin's chariot, surprise, surprise, was hot-pink. In addition, it looked well-built and was beautiful to look at. The entire thing screamed "style over substance."

Dionysus' cabin had entered the race as well, and their entry was a solidly-built run-of-the-mill chariot with nothing exceptional except for the twin high-pressure water cannons on either side.

And then, of course, there was the golden team. Athena and Poseidon. Percy and Annabeth. They were the team to beat. Their chariot was streamlined to the nth degree, and one could imagine the tricks that it was bristling with. All around, it was reinforced with celestial bronze that artfully melded with the wood in other places. Their chariot looked regal compared to the others. Percy and Annabeth were heavy favorites to win coming into the race.

Hector and I were planning to change that.

Our chariot was nothing special, and that was what its secret weapon was. The chariot was stripped down as much as possible without doing structural damage, and reinforced everywhere with celestial bronze. The result was an ultra-light and ultra-strong vehicle that wouldn't let anything in its path stop it. Aside from a rack of weapons for Hector to use, there was nothing except a big red button on the side that Travis and Connor had said was for the "celebration." I didn't even know what it did.

"Cabins, line up your chariots!" Chiron bellowed.

The eight chariots lined up in position for the race, which would be three laps. Our chariot ended up between the Demeter chariot and the Aphrodite chariot as Chiron raised the conch horn.

"Ready!" he called.

I looked over at Hector. "You ready?"

Hector grinned madly. "As ready as I'll ever be."

I gripped the reins and closed my eyes. Already, I could feel the chariot beneath me, responding to my presence. Over the last month, I had worked on feeling the rhythm of the chariot and getting in tune with it. Now I would see if the practice had paid off.

"Set!"

It was show time.

The conch horn blew, and I flicked the reins as hard as I could. The eight chariots exploded off the line. I cut in front of the Demeter chariot, causing it to swerve off the track and turn onto its side.

"That's one already out of the race!" Hector stated. "Seven to go!"

I drew even with the Ares chariot and rammed its side, knocking Clarisse off-balance. She stood up angrily. "ARGH! You rotten little motherfu- OOF!"

Hector silenced Clarisse by smacking the flat of his sword into her side, shoving her backwards. She unsheathed her spear and advanced towards us, muttering curses. Hector readied himself for her onslaught.

Suddenly, a volley of tennis balls smacked squarely into him, knocking his sword out of his hands and out of the chariot. I glanced up at the source of the ball and saw the rocket launcher on top of Clarisse's chariot rotating around, firing tennis balls at us. It turned level at me, and before I could react, fired a tennis ball at my head. I ducked backwards and felt the breeze as the ball passed within inches of my nose.

The launcher fired again at me, and this time, I couldn't move fast enough, and it smacked me right in between the eyes. I staggered and just managed to hold onto the reins.

"Eat balls, punk," Clarisse sneered.

Hector, meanwhile, had to reach back and pull a spare sword off the floor. He swung at Clarisse while she was distracted, slamming the flat of the blade into the side of her head. She crumpled like a rag doll.

Hector laughed. "Not so hard to beat, are you, Clary?"

Clarisse groaned in reply from the floor of her chariot.

"Let's get rid of these losers once and for all," Hector announced, as he bent down and pulled a shoulder-mounted firecracker launcher off the floor, courtesy of Travis and Connor. He aimed at the driver of the Ares chariot, who looked at us at the last second and only had time to look horrified before Hector unleashed a burst of pyrotechnics on him.

The driver never stood a chance as he was thrown out of the chariot in a cloud of sparks. The Ares chariot, now driverless, veered off the track and towards the canoe lake. Clarisse hadn't bailed out, which meant she was probably in for an unexpected bath.

"Yahoo!" Hector yelled, raising his sword. "Let's go win this thing!"

I flicked the reins, and gave the horses a burst of speed. We blazed past the slow-moving Aphrodite chariot and closed in on the Dionysus and Hephaestus chariots, which were battling. Their battle was taking up most of the road, trapping us behind the pack.

"Hector," I said, nodding towards the Dionysus chariot. "We need to get through here."

"That won't be a problem," Hector said, patting the barrel of his pyro gun. He aimed it at the Dionysus chariot, and let loose a burst of high-velocity burst of explosive color. The Dionysus chariot's reaction was immediate, as Hector and I had to both duck when two streams of water pummeled the front of our chariot. I peeked over the side and watched the Hephaestus chariot pull away, leaving a gap next to the Dionysus chariot.

"Hector, hold on to your pyro gun. I'm going to pull ahead of the Dionysus chariot."

"Got it." He jumped up and blasted another stream of fireworks at the Dionysus chariot. As they ducked down out of the line of fire, I flicked the reins again and closed my eyes, concentrating on the rhythm of the chariot below me. With a massive burst of speed, the chariot sped ahead, leaving the Dionysus chariot in the dust.

"Fourth place!" Hector shouted ecstatically. "We can do this for real! And, shit, Jackson, that was fast."

I didn't reply as we took the first turn carefully, not wanting to crash on the first lap. We came out of the corner accelerating towards the three most formidable chariots- Apollo, Hephaestus, and of course, Athena-Poseidon. The Athena-Poseidon chariot had a huge lead, and the Hephaestus and Apollo chariots were too busy grappling with each other to notice us sneaking up on them.

Hector had an almost feral grin on his face as we closed in on the Apollo chariot, which was still obnoxiously playing "I'm Winning" on their boombox.

"I can't wait to cream that racist bastard Fletcher," he said. "Revenge will be sweet."

Slowly, we crept up on the Apollo chariot, which had fallen behind the Hephaestus chariot. As we rounded the second curve, Hector picked up his pyro gun again. "I'm going to blow up that godsdamn boombox," he declared.

"Go ahead." I flicked the reins and brought us a little closer to the Apollo chariot. "You may fire when ready."

Hector grinned at me. "Nice Star Wars reference." He shouldered the launcher and aimed carefully at the boombox. "Here goes." He pulled the trigger, and a stream of multicolored gunpowder explosions blasted the back of the Apollo chariot, incinerating the boombox and setting fire to one side of the chariot.

"Success!" Hector lowered the pyro gun.

The Apollo chariot started to weave wildly in an attempt to put the fire out. I drew the chariot level with our rival and slammed into the side of it. Inside the other chariot, Lee swung his face at us with a look of dismay.

Hector lifted up his sword. "Hey, Fletcher! Why did Apollo lose the chariot race?"

"What?" Lee snapped.

"There was a son of Hephaestus driving!"

Hector's punchline made no sense, but I must have been missing something, because Lee was livid.

"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!" he roared, with flecks of spit flying out of his mouth.

"Lee, calm down," I said. "It's just a joke."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Lee screamed. "IT'S AN INSULT TO MY HONOR!" He swung his sword wildly at Hector with deadly intent written on his face. Luckily, Lee's anger had made him wildly uncoordinated in his attack. Hector easily sidestepped Lee's slash and retaliated with a smack in the forehead with the hilt of his sword. Lee collapsed to the floor of his chariot. I lifted the reins to pull ahead, but Hector's warning stopped me.

"Turn ahead!"

I pulled up on the reins, slowing the chariot, and let the Apollo chariot pull ahead as they went into the second turn with way too much speed. As the driver of the chariot struggled to keep the chariot on the road, I took advantage of the breather to survey the playing field. The Athena-Poseidon chariot had opened up a gigantic lead over the rest of the field. Behind us, the Demeter and Ares chariots had dropped out of the race, thanks to us. The Aphrodite and Dionysus chariots were too far back to be a real threat at all. That meant the dangers we faced were ahead. I flicked the reins and pulled level with the Apollo chariot again. Lee had managed to get up, albeit in a very dazed way.

"You'll pay for what you said, Alvarez," he said in a low, furious tone.

Hector raised his sword. "I don't think so, Fletcher."

Before Lee could respond, Hector swung his sword, slamming the flat of his blade into Lee's head. Lee fell like a Jenga tower, obviously down for the count.

"Serves you right for what you did to Jackson!" Hector yelled at Lee, even though his words fell on unconscious ears. Hector turned to face me with a look of disgust on his face. "Come on, Jackson. Let's go win this race."

"Do you need to ask?" I said, flicking the reins for acceleration. We easily overtook the Apollo chariot. Hector left a parting shot, barraging the Apollo chariot with a volley of flammable fireworks.

"See you at the finish line, Fletcher," Hector said smugly, as the Apollo chariot veered off the track in flames.

I put my full attention onto catching up with the Hephaestus chariot. With no opponents coming from either direction, I took the opportunity to really open up the speed. The chariot practically flew down the track as I concentrated on pushing the chariot as hard as it could go without exhausting the horses.

Hector whistled admiringly as we mercilessly gained on the Hephaestus chariot. "Jackson, you are a _really_ good driver."

"Thanks." I steered through the third turn. We were now only three chariot-lengths back from the Hephaestus chariot now, and gaining fast.

Hector shouldered his pyro gun again. "This is going to be our toughest competition. Watch out for Greek fire."

We were two chariot-lengths back. "What's Greek fire?"

"Green fire that doesn't go out very easily. It's highly explosive and dangerous. Nasty stuff."

We were now only one chariot-length back. "Get ready," I cautioned. Hector put his hand on his sword as we drew even with the Hephaestus chariot. Beckendorf noticed us, and for a few seconds, there was complete silence as the two chariots drove side-by-side. Then Hector discharged his pyro gun, and all hell broke loose. Beckendorf ducked behind a shield that came out of nowhere, and the fireworks bounced off harmlessly. The pyro gun suddenly sputtered to a halt.

Hector lowered his gun and cursed. "I'm out of ammo! Is there a reload around here somewhere?"

Seeing his opportunity, Beckendorf lowered his shield and threw a small plastic cylinder into our cabin.

"GRENADE!" Hector bellowed, diving onto the floor. I ducked behind a shield lying next to me. Seconds later, the cylinder exploded with a blinding flash and an earsplitting screech.

"Ack!" I grasped my ears. "I can't hear anything!" But I could see well enough to see that the Hephaestus chariot had pulled back out in front.

Hector stood up shalkily. "Concentrate on driving," he ordered. "I'll take care of these kids."

"Got it." I flicked the reins and urged the horses on, pulling the chariot back towards the Hephaestus chariot.

Hector bent down and picked up a celestial bronze spear from the floor. "Ever seen that scene from _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ where they're being chased by a guy on a motorcycle?" he asked.

"Yes, and… Oh. Indiana throws a flagpole into the spokes of the pursuing motorcycle, causing it to flip over?"

Hector grinned. "Exactly."

We closed in on the Hephaestus chariot again. Hector raised his spear and took aim at the back left wheel. "Wait for it," he muttered. "Wait… for… it…"

I moved the chariot ever-so-closer, until…

"NOW!" Hector thundered, and he slung the spear with all of his might. It impacted the wheel perfectly, and with a tremendous _crunch_, the wheel buckled inwards and shattered, crippling the Hephaestus chariot.

I steered to the left and gave the chariot a wide berth as it swerved wildly around the road before finally dragging to a halt.

"YES!" Hector cheered. "WE'RE IN SECOND PLACE! WE CAN WIN THIS!"

We glided through the fourth turn, and as we entered the final straightaway of the first lap, I could see the challenge that lay ahead. The Athena-Poseidon chariot was already on their second lap. I snapped the reins for a burst of speed, and we plowed onward. With no on coming from behind, I could concentrate solely on driving for the first time in the race. We steadily built up speed down the long straight. But as I powered into the first turn of the second lap, we had only gained by about two chariot-lengths on the Athena-Poseidon chariot.

"Faster," I muttered.

Hector looked at me incredulously. "Faster? We're already getting close the speeds that this chariot can go safely at! If we go much faster, we'll have a repeat of what happened at your tryout!"

I ignored him and closed my eyes. The rhythm of the chariot wheels flooded my mind. I could sense every moving part, and even a little bit of the horses. Everything was working to perfection. Except that we weren't going fast enough. If we were going to win this race, I needed to squeeze every drop of speed out of this chariot. I concentrated on the rhythm.

_Dun…dun…dun…dun…_

Faster.

_Dun..Dun..Dun..Dun.._

Faster.

_ . ._

Faster.

_Dundundundun-_

Faster.

_Dundundundun!_

Faster.

_DUNDUNDUNDUN-_

Perfect.

"HOLY SHIT."

I opened my eyes. Everything around us was a blur.

"Jackson, what just happened?! Our speed doubled!" Hector choked.

I looked around. I felt strangely calm, like I could handle going at speeds like this. "I'm not entirely sure, actually. I just tapped into the rhythm."

Hector was clutching to the side of the chariot as we thundered down the track. "What rhythm?!"

"Never mind, I'll explain it later." We were closing in on the second turn of the track. I gripped the reins and steered us through, fighting the momentum of the chariot the entire way. We slid through in a cloud of dust with minimal speed loss.

Hector gasped. "We're gaining on them!" He pointed ahead to the Athena-Poseidon chariot, which was now only four chariot-lengths ahead. Then it was three. Then it was two. Then it was one. Then it was one-half. Then-

"OH MY GODS!" Hector shrieked. We rocketed past the Athena-Poseidon chariot like it was standing still. The look on Percy and Annabeth's faces were priceless. Then we were ahead by one, two, three, four chariot lengths.

"FIRST PLACE!" Hector squealed. "WE'RE WINNING!" He started jumping up and down and actually shaking me.

"I'm trying to drive here!" I shouted.

"Oops. Sorry," Hector said, embarrassed.

I looked back for a brief second. The Athena-Poseidon chariot was getting farther back every second.

"Third turn!" Hector warned. I looked up and actually slowed down a little for the turn. We slid through smoothly and blasted down the second-to-last straight before the finish line.

"I don't believe it! We're going to win! WE'RE GOING TO WIN!" Hector screamed.

I looked at the stands by the finish line. The Hermes cabin was on their feet and cheering us on. The gap between us and the Athena-Poseidon chariot was bigger than it had ever been.

"Aw, yeah," I whispered. "Let's finish this." We went through the fourth turn smoothly, and pulled out in a power-slide, of all things. Now, nothing stood between us and the finish line. Hector and I watched gleefully as we blasted across the finish line in first place.

Hector roared with delight. "WE'VE DONE IT! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! IN YOUR FACE, FLETCHER! IN YOUR FACE, CLARISSE! WE WON!"

The Hermes cabin poured out of the stands and mobbed our chariot as we came to a stop. Hector reached over and pushed the big red button that Travis and Connor had put in. Out of nowhere, a stereo rose out of the chariot and started blasting "We are the Champions" while confetti launched out of the side of the chariot.

Hector smirked. "Leave it to Travis and Connor to put something like this in. Talk about counting their chickens before they hatch."

We stepped out of the chariot and climbed onto the winner's podium as Chiron and several nymphs came over with the laurels, which they draped over me and Hector.

"I don't believe it!" Hector said. "A month with no chores!"

"I know! A month where we can laugh in Lee Fletcher's ugly face because I beat him in the race!"

Hector looked at me to respond, but then his face went ghost-white. A collective gasp went up from the crowd.

"What?" I asked. Everyone was staring at me.

Hector pointed weakly above my head. I looked up and saw a spinning 3-D hologram of a chariot directly over my head. Somehow, I knew what that symbol meant. Everything became crystal-clear. I knew why I could talk to cars and why I was a natural at driving. I knew why I had that engine condition-sight power. I knew how I had been able to tap into the rhythm of the chariot and speed it up. I knew how I had gotten the shoes that turned into a car, and I knew who had given them to me. I was now in mortal danger. I had been claimed.

The crowd had fallen dead silent now. Jake Mason looked like his worst fears had been confirmed. Lee Fletcher looked furious. Annabeth looked shocked.

Chiron spoke, finally. "All hail Jackson Crossley, son of Vehiclos, god of transportation and races."

**A/N: What do you think? Please review! Now the plot starts to pick up… Jackson gets claimed! I appreciate all reviews. Thank you very much. Air Force Muffin out.**


	9. Chapter 9: I almost get killed

Chapter Nine

**A/N: Here it is! Chapter nine! I'm hosting a Q&A about the story in the reviews, so go ahead and ask away in the reviews section. Raise your hand if you can't wait for The Blood of Olympus to come out! *Raises hand* Yeah. Only nine days until it comes out! I seriously can't wait. All I'm going to say is that after the disastrous House of Hades, The Blood of Olympus better be good. In other news, how about Rick Riordan and his "Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard" series that he's working on next? He claims that the last name "Chase" is not a coincidence. Well, well, well. I don't know what to say. My guess is that "Magnus Chase" is the brother of Frederick Chase, which makes "Magnus Chase" Annabeth's uncle. That's my guess, at least. So, yeah. Big day for the Percy Jackson fandom. Anyway, enjoy this chapter! There should be plenty of action. Don't forget to review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

I finally made my way back to the Hermes cabin after a mountain of confusion. Winning the chariot race had been overshadowed by my claiming. Thunder had been rumbling ever since the moment that the hologram faded from above my head. I sat down on my sleeping bag wearily. The chariot race had worn me out, and I couldn't wait to get some sleep. Other people had other ideas, though.

"Jackson…" Grant began.

I looked up at them. "I'm fine, guys, all right? No biggie, except that I just found out that Zeus might kill me any minute because of something that my dad did."

"Can we talk?" Kaia asked. "You need to know what might happen now that Vehiclos is your father."

"What's there to know?" I asked tiredly. "Zeus hates my dad, so by default he hates me, and I'll probably be dead by tomorrow."

Kaia shook her head. "They might wait until the winter solstice to decide your fate."

I shot up. "Might?! Might wait?! Wow, borrowed time. I'm so excited."

"Look, um, we don't like this either," Grant said uncomfortably. "But now that you know that you're a son of Vehiclos, there's a couple of things that you need to know."

"Like what?" I snapped.

"Um, I think Danielle can take it from here." He stepped to the side as the black-haired resident female historian of the Hermes cabin stepped forward.

"Sit your ass down and stop boo-hooing about who your father is, because you're lucky as fuck to get claimed and there's a bunch of kids in this cabin, myself included, who have waited a lot longer to get claimed and are extremely jealous of you right now, myself included," Danielle said irritably.

I sat down. Danielle had a short and ferocious temper. Get on her bad side was not a good idea. "Fine. What's do I need to know?"

"A lot," Danielle said bluntly. "Vehiclos has a very colorful history, so get ready to listen."

Grant and Kaia sat down next to me as I settled in for Danielle's history lesson.

"Vehiclos started out as a powerful son of Hephaestus in ancient Greece, near the end of the Grecian empire. He was an incredibly good chariot driver. Actually, he was the greatest chariot driver in all of Greece and the surrounding lands. He boasted that he could beat anyone in a race. Eventually, he challenged Apollo to a chariot race. Apollo accepted the challenge, knowing that his sun chariot was unbeatable. The race had Apollo in his sun chariot against Vehiclos, in a normal Grecian battle chariot. They would race from the western coast of Greece to the eastern coast. If Vehiclos won, he would be rewarded with godhood. If Apollo won, Vehiclos would have to tend to Apollo's sacred cows for a millennium. "

"Let me guess- Vehiclos lost, but tricked Apollo into giving him godhood anyway?" I asked.

"Actually, no. Vehiclos won."

"What?"

Danielle sighed. "You heard me. Be quiet and listen. Vehiclos won the race fair and square, and was awarded godhood as the Greek god of transportation. That wasn't such a problem back in ancient Greece, when the only methods of transportation were chariots and boats. He was viewed as a harmless minor god for a long time. But, as the modern technological revolution approached, Vehiclos' power expanded. In today's world, his domain is cars, planes, trains, boats, motorcycles- anything that transports mortals and mortal belongings. Now, this is a pretty big domain if you think about it, because it gives Vehiclos power in each of the Big Three's domains- the sky, the water, and the earth. Zeus isn't a complete idiot-" Thunder crashed directly overhead. Danielle didn't even blink as she kept talking. "-so he realized that Vehiclos might be dangerous. I mean, he defeated one of the major Olympian gods in contest. That would be enough to set off alarm bells in even Zeus' inflated head."

A volley of thunder rolled through the valley, sounding like a hundred gigantic bowling balls falling off a shelf.

"Um, Danielle?" Grant interjected nervously. "I hate to interrupt, but Zeus is already pissed off enough right now. Can you, like, not insult him with every other sentence?" He looked up at the ceiling.

"Fine," Danielle said. "Go ahead and bow down to the Olympians. I'll do what I want to do." She faced me again. "Where was I? Oh, right. So until the technological revolution, the Olympians were on good terms with Vehiclos, except for Apollo, who flat-out hated Vehiclos because he was the first in centuries to deflate the massive ego that takes up most of Apollo' head. So, because of Apollo's hatred, children of Vehiclos and Apollo share a natural feud."

"Well, that explains why Lee Fletcher and I pretty much hate each other," I concluded.

Danielle nodded. "Correct. Now, I'm not finished, so keep listening. So the Olympians and Vehiclos had a perfectly sound relationship until 1903."

"What happened in 1903?" I asked.

"The airplane was invented. The Olympians accused Vehiclos of plotting against them by influencing the mortals. The Olympians basically got jealous of the power the Vehiclos now held among the mortals. They were even more jealous when the mortals started using cars and planes in war frequently during World War Two, which meant that Vehiclos was now infringing on Ares' territory as well. The Olympians tried to arrest Vehiclos for treason on that basis, but their case fell through when they realized that they had no evidence that Vehiclos was directly influencing the mortals. Vehiclos was miffed by the Olympians' attempt to get rid of him, and dropped off the map for a couple of decades. When he came back, the Olympians were astonished to find that he'd spent the time off the map having kids with mortals. That, of course, set off a whole another round of chaos, which finally culminated in Zeus giving Vehiclos an ultimatum: "Turn your kids in, or I let Apollo loose on them."

My jaw dropped. "WHAT?!"

Danielle shrugged. "I know, right? Goes to show you how crazy the Olympians are."

An entire volley of thunder rolled through the valley this time, sounding like the world's largest jar of marbles had been overturned in a megaphone.

Danielle ignored it as the rest of us flinched. When nothing else happened, Danielle kept talking. "As I was saying, Zeus gave Vehiclos the ultimatum, but Vehiclos managed to bargain an agreement: As long as he didn't contact his children, Zeus wouldn't allow Apollo near him. That lasted until the spring of 1986, when Apollo killed one of Vehiclos' sons. That set off another conflict. Vehiclos accused Apollo of senselessly murdering the unsuspecting demigod. Apollo, in turn, accused Vehiclos of having contacted that demigod frequently. The matters came to a head at the summer solstice that year, when Vehiclos and Apollo went to the Olympian court to duke it out in a legal battle judged by Zeus. Long story short, Apollo won the court battle. Vehiclos, of course, was enraged. He wanted justice for his dead son. He claimed that Zeus had been biased in favor of Apollo and demanded a retrial with a better judge. Zeus denied it, and that's when Vehiclos got really mad. He started saying that he was better than some of the Olympians on the Olympian council, and he demanded respect. He said that he had more power than Dionysus, and Zeus only had Dionysus on the Olympian council because he was his son, and then he started going on about a bunch of other things that the Olympians were doing wrong- all of which were true, by the way."

Another ferocious volley of thunder echoed through the camp.

"Danielle, _please!_" Kaia begged. "Zeus is already mad enough! You're not helping!"

Danielle raised an eyebrow. "Fine. As I was saying, Vehiclos raised a big stink about a bunch of things, and finally he just stormed out of Olympus. Zeus demanded that Vehiclos return for the winter solstice, where there would be a serious talk. But Vehiclos didn't show up at the winter solstice. Because of this, Zeus and the rest of the Olympians charged Vehiclos with insubordination and ordered him to return to Olympus to stand trial. He still didn't return. Later on, the Olympians declared that any new children that Vehiclos had would be treated as criminals until he came to trial. Vehiclos didn't return. In fact, there's been no definite proof of his existence over the last couple decades until you came along." She looked meaningfully at me.

"So… I'm basically on the bad side of all the gods, and Apollo might kill me?"

"I wouldn't rule out Zeus as wanting to kill you, either," Danielle added unhelpfully.

Thunder boomed again, and rain began to patter against the windows.

"Looks like Zeus is throwing a bit of a temper tantrum," Danielle mumbled.

The rain beat even harder against the side of the cabin as we fell into an uneasy silence.

Suddenly, a loud banging came from the door. Everyone in the cabin froze. After several more seconds without the knocking ceasing, Connor cautiously stepped forward and opened the door. Chiron stood on the front porch, rain-soaked and looking extremely weary.

"What-" Connor began, but Chiron held up a hand. Connor fell silent.

"Zeus wants Jackson to come to Olympus immediately," Chiron said.

{_Line Break_}

I stood in the elevator of the Empire State building, along with Chiron, who was somehow in a wheelchair, and Hector and Danielle, as we traveled up to the six hundredth floor, where Olympus was located. The elevator music could not have been worse. Some joker (probably Apollo) had "If I Die Young" playing on repeat in the elevator as we made the long journey upward.

Chiron had abruptly pulled Hector, Danielle, and me out of the Hermes cabin without more explanation then "Zeus is very impatient." Now, I stood in the elevator as the floors blinked up past the ninetieth floor. I still didn't know if I was going to survive the night.

"The one time you can count on the Olympians to be prompt is when they want to kill someone," Danielle muttered.

Chiron shot Danielle a look but said nothing. Danielle took that to mean that she could keep talking.

"Vehiclos has been a huge thorn in the side of the Olympians ever since the invention of the airplane. Sadly, I'm not surprised that they brought you in so quickly, Jackson. They've been looking for a way to get Vehiclos for a long time. Figures that they'd-"

"Ms. Reynolds," Chiron said firmly.

Danielle closed her mouth. The three of us watched the floors tick upwards.

Several minutes later, the elevator came to a stop with a _ding_. The doors opened, and despite my nerves, my jaw dropped. Leading away from the elevator was a series of marble steps that led up to… something. It was huge. It looked like someone had taken an island out of the ocean and plunked it a mile above New York City and left it floating in midair.

"Welcome to Olympus," Hector announced grimly. "The home of the gods."

We walked up the steps and through the marble gates at the entrance. All around us was a bustling city center. All manner of buildings lined the main avenue, and there were side roads leading who knew where. Nymphs strolled down the streets as street vendors hawked their goods to passerby. The whole place would have been spectacular to look at, if everybody hadn't been looking at us as we passed through. Several people stopped to stare and whisper as we went by.

"Nothing in the world travels faster than gossip," Hector said, after several more minutes of pointing and hushed whispers.

I snorted, but then Chiron motioned for us to be quiet. We had arrived at a massive set of doors at an equally large temple.

"What-?"

"The throne room of the gods," Chiron explained. "Be very careful."

The doors slowly swung open.

"Do we go in?" I asked.

"Yes," Chiron said.

_No,_ I thought. _No, I don't want to face a bunch of immortal deities who are mad with me. No, I don't want to go in there and possibly get killed._

But all I said was "Okay."

"I will wait for you out here," Chiron said.

I nodded. Then me, Danielle, and Hector entered the throne room.

It was magnificent. Twelve towering figures throwing off auras of power were seated in thrones arranged in a circle around us. A bulky figure on the right was tossing a switchblade back and forth in his hands. He noticed me looking and sneered. His knife spun towards me.

I looked elsewhere.

In the center, there was a hearth with a small figure tending to it. Her back was to me. I noticed Dionysus with his usual 'like I give a fuck' expression seated off to the far right.

"So… this is him. The son of the traitor," a voice boomed. I turned to face the source of the voice and saw the king of the gods for the first time. Zeus himself. He was taller than any of the other gods and had small sparks of lightning flickering around him and in his hair and beard.

"Vehiclos was naïve to have another son," Zeus said. "He did not anticipate what we would do with him when we found him."

"What is that supposed to-"

_Thwack._ An arrow smacked into the ground at my feet and stuck there, stopping my question. I looked up and followed the arrow to its source- a blond-haired man with sunglasses on and a bow in his hands, standing in front of his throne.

Apollo.

"You dare to speak out of turn, you insolent little-"

"**APOLLO,**" Zeus thundered.

Apollo cringed. "Yes?"

"I will do the talking. You will be quiet and listen."

"Yes, father," Apollo said quietly. He sank back into his throne.

Zeus faced me again and steepled his fingers. "Jackson Crossley. A son of Vehiclos, who did not know who his father was. That is believable, but the actions of some other individuals are highly suspicious. Mr. Alvarez, the Olympian court calls you forward."

Hector's face whitened. "_Me?!_"

Zeus sighed exasperatedly. "Yes, Mr. Alvarez. Why do you think you were brought along?"

"I- I- I don't know…?"

"You are suspected of collaborating with Vehiclos to engineer Mr. Crossley's skills to a higher level. The evidence against you is quite suspicious," Zeus said, leaning forward. "Why else would you pick Jackson to drive the chariot for the Hermes cabin, when there were some much better candidates?"

"What? That? No! I mean, Jackson had the worst lap time of the group, but he also got the chariot to its highest individual speed and he showed great driving instincts compared to the rest of the group. I saw a diamond in the rough and thought that with some training, that he could blow away the competition."

Off to the left of Zeus, a female god with gray eyes arched an eyebrow. "Are you telling the council the truth, Mr. Alvarez?"

That was Athena.

"Yes! Um- uh, well, I did, um, sort of, there was, um- um…" Hector stammered off into silence as the gray-eyed goddess fixed a hard look on him.

"Tell the truth. It will be much more beneficial than lying to us," she commanded.

"I had a very strong feeling. It was like a voice in my head telling me that picking Jackson would be the best possible outcome."

Athena looked at Zeus. "He's telling the truth."

Zeus' beard flickered with lightning. "Very well. Mr. Alvarez, you are cleared of suspicion."

Hector audibly sighed with relief and stepped back.

Zeus' eyes moved to Danielle. "As for you, Ms. Reynolds, Athena will handle the questioning."

"Oh, really?" Danielle asked, looking at Athena with contempt.

"Yes," Athena said. "Ms. Reynolds, why did you see it fit to inform Jackson about his father's background?"

"Jackson didn't know anything about his father. I did him a service by telling him why you guys hate his father," Danielle replied.

Athena mulled over the answer before nodding. "That is a logical course of action. Ms. Reynolds, you are cleared of all suspicions as well."

Danielle snorted disgustedly at Athena and moved back.

Zeus looked at me. "However, Mr. Crossley, you are not cleared. We have some questions that we'd like for you to answer."

"Sure," I said nervously.

"Have you ever seen Vehiclos in your life before?" he asked.

"Um, not that I know of. I don't know what he looks like."

Zeus looked at Athena, who nodded. He looked back at me. "Very well. Have you ever received anything from him in your life?"

"Just these shoes," I said, pointing to my black Nikes.

Every eye in the throne room went to my feet.

"Take off the shoes," Zeus said. He held out a hand. Feeling foolish, I took off the sneakers and placed them in his hand. He took them and turned them over in his hand. After several seconds, he handed them to Athena, who inspected them carefully. After several seconds, she whispered something and tossed them onto the ground. The shoes turned into the black Dodge Charger.

Athena looked at me. "Were you aware of this?"

I nodded. "The shoes came with a note explaining how to use them."

Athena waved her hand, and the car turned back into a pair of shoes, which flew to my feet. "Interesting. It seems that Vehiclos has been more active than we would like to think."

Zeus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Indeed. Does anyone have any thoughts?"

There was silence in the throne room.

"Very well," Zeus said. "In that case, we will carry on with our prearranged plan." A lightning bolt appeared in his hand.

"Hold on. What prearranged plan?" I asked, eyeing the bolt in Zeus' hands. I didn't like the direction that things were suddenly going in.

"Vehiclos is simply too dangerous," Zeus said. "This shall serve as a warning to him." He raised the bolt.

"Wait!" Hector yelled. "You're just going to kill him?!"

"Stay out of this, Mr. Alvarez," Zeus rumbled.

"You're seriously going to just kill him because of his father?!" Danielle questioned incredulously.

"Stay out as well, Ms. Reynolds," Athena added.

The bolt started to glow in Zeus' hands. I couldn't believe it. I was going to be killed by the people who were supposed to be protecting me. I had left my normal mortal life just to be killed a month later? What had I gotten myself into? I looked behind me desperately. Hector looked horrified beyond belief. Danielle looked enraged and disgusted at the same time. They were both powerless to stop me. I looked back at Zeus. His bolt was glowing brightly now. He brought it back to throw it and-

"Stop." A firm, angry voice resounded throughout the throne room. There was a gasp from the rest of the Olympians. Zeus lowered his bolt and looked in the direction of the voice. I looked, too. A figure stood in the doorway. He was wearing jeans, a Chicago Bears sweatshirt, and a baseball cap that said "Detroit Motors Corp." on it. He looked furious.

Zeus' face went from surprised to angry. "YOU?! You dare to-"

The newcomer held up a hand. "Save it. I don't want to hear any of it. Do not kill the boy, or you will regret it."

"Why should I listen to you?" Zeus asked dangerously. The air around him started to crackle with static electricity.

"I know exactly what you did in the summer of 1996," the stranger said.

Zeus paled. "You… you…" His grip on the lightning bolt tightened.

The stranger smirked. "I know. And if you kill him, the whole world will know about it as well."

Zeus looked thunderous. He and the stranger stared tensely at each other. The stranger didn't blink. He tugged down on his baseball cap and shrugged. "What are you going to do? Kill my son, and the world is going to know what you did with that lightning bolt in 1996."

Zeus, scowling ferociously, pocketed his bolt. After a long pause, he declared "The boy shall live," through gritted teeth.

Apollo jumped up. "WHAT?!" he screamed, livid. "You cannot let this- this traitor go free!" He turned to face the stranger. "And you…" he said in a low voice, "You will-"

"Stuff it, Apollo," the unknown man said. "I can't believe any of you. I never thought that the Olympians would stoop this low. What you are doing is as bad as the Titans," the stranger said. He faced Zeus again. "Call off the charges on me."

Zeus' eyes sparked ferociously. "That is too much. I will not cower in fear of a piece of mere gossip."

The stranger shrugged. "Have it your way, then. Don't touch my son, and no one will know about what happened in 1996. So long." He disappeared in a swirl of mist.

There was a long silence in the throne room, which was finally broken by Hephaestus. "He- he- he came back," he said in a quavering voice.

Zeus sat down on his throne, still scowling fiercely. He looked at me. "I will honor his wishes. The boy lives." He turned to face me. "However, swear on the River Styx that you will not tell anyone about what just happened."

I blinked. "Um…"

The bolt reappeared in his hands. "SWEAR IT!" he boomed.

"I swear on the River Styx that I will not tell anyone about what just happened," I said hurriedly.

The bolt disappeared from Zeus' hands. "Very well," he said smoothly. "I hope that no one will dispute my decision." He glared at Apollo, who was going purple in the face and sputtering, but saying nothing. Finally, Apollo vanished in a flash of golden light. The throne room was briefly silent.

"Zeus." Athena stood up. "What happened in 1996?"

Zeus roared with rage and disappeared in a flash of lightning.

"Well, that was… unexpected." The tall figure sitting on the throne to the right of Zeus' throne stood up. "I see no need to continue the emergency meeting, now that the subject of dispute has been resolved. If you'll excuse me, I have to return to the Underworld." He vanished into his own shadow.

As the rest of us stood in the suddenly less-crowded hall, Danielle spoke up. "Seriously?" she said. Everyone in the throne room looked at her. "Seriously?" she repeated. "You guys were about to kill a fourteen-year-old kid just to send a message to his father?" She threw up her hands. "I am finished with the Olympians. Completely fucking finished. I'm sending my resume to the Titans." She stalked towards the door.

"Danielle, wait." Athena moved forward.

Danielle stopped at the doors. "What?" she asked viciously.

Athena said nothing. But then a floating hologram appeared above Danielle's head. It was a grey owl. Danielle looked up, and her mouth fell open. But after several seconds, she faced Athena again with even more anger on her face. "Where was this five fucking years ago?!" she growled.

Athena's face fell. "I was not comfortable with-"

"-A child with black hair?! Am I right?" Danielle asked vehemently. "Fuck my black hair! I could have dyed it! Fuck you! Twenty-one years without a single word! My dad became a drunkard after you left! He died in a car crash when I was nine! I was thrust into American social care! Do you know how much of a hellhole that system is? And then I got to Camp Half-Blood, and I thought all my troubles were over! Well, wrong! I became an outcast again, because you couldn't claim me, because of my fucking black hair! Well, here!"

Danielle pulled a dagger out of her pants, and before anyone could react, she slashed it through her hair, cutting off most of it. She picked the clump off the ground and flung it at Athena before stomping out of the throne room, leaving me, Hector, a very heartbroken goddess, and eight other gods who were not sure what the fuck had just happened.

Hector glared at the other gods. "I'm with Danielle. I'm finished with you guys. You've gone too far." He strode out of the throne room.

After several uneasy seconds, I went after them. As I went out the doors, I looked back at the Olympians. I really shouldn't have been pressing my luck. I was lucky to be alive. I shouldn't have been pissing these guys off. But I had to say something.

"You guys are assholes," I said bluntly, and left before they could smite me.

Outside, Chiron was waiting with Hector, who had stayed behind. Chiron looked extremely relieved when he saw me come out. "Thank the gods that you survived, Mr. Crossley." He looked uneasily at the throne room. "Someone walked by me- if it was who I think it was-"

"It was," Hector nodded. "He's back."

Chiron paled. "This has not been the best of evenings. We should leave."

"Yes, let's," I grumbled. "I need to get away from here."

{_Line Break_}

Over New York, a vicious thunderstorm raged as sheets of rain pounded the streets. Barely anyone was on the streets. Chiron, Hector, and I stood under the canopy over the entrance to the Empire State Building. We were waiting for the valet who had parked our van to bring it back. Hector explained what had happened in the throne room as we waited. After he finished his explanation, we waited for our unusually late valet.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Hector said.

"What is the matter, Mr. Alvarez?" Chiron asked.

"Um, nothing. I'm just going to go get some coffee from that shop down the street. You know, to calm my nerves."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "I thought that coffee did the opposite of calming one's nerves."

Hector chuckled slightly. "Um, well, you know, they do say different strokes for different folks."

Chiron nodded. "Go ahead. Just hurry. I would like to be back at Camp as soon as possible."

"Thanks." Hector jogged off. I watched him go down the street towards the Dunkin' Donuts two blocks down. Suddenly, with a furtive glance over his shoulder, Hector broke into a sprint.

"Wha- Chiron! I don't think Hector was going to get coffee!"

"What?" Chiron looked over at Hector's swiftly moving form. "_Di immortales!_" he cursed. He started to get out of his wheelchair, but then stopped abruptly as Hector turned down a side street and disappeared.

"Chiron? What… Is he… what… Gone?"

Chiron's face was heavy. "Yes. One more lost to the side of the Titans. That makes two this night."

As we looked down the rain-soaked street at where Hector had disappeared, a thought occurred to me. Why was I still here? I had just had an attempt on my life by the people who were supposed to be on my side.

"Chiron."

"Yes?"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't leave right now and go to the Titans. Why shouldn't I make it three lost to the Titans tonight?"

Chiron looked as if someone had stabbed him directly in the heart. "Mr. Crossley?"

"You heard me. Hector told you what happened. Why should I stick with this side after what they did? The Titans wouldn't do what the Olympians just tried to do."

Chiron didn't say anything for a minute. The rain continued to fall. Several flashes of lightning lit up the sky.

"Jackson, do you care for the mortals?"

I looked up and down the street. There were mortals all around. One was driving a Toyota Prius up to the curb. There was another hunkered under an umbrella on their cell phone. Several more were conversing nearby about the stock market. A mortal walked by me with a briefcase.

"Yes," I said.

"Why?"

"Umm… They're creative. And smart. And diverse. And a lot of them are smarter than the Olympians. I mean, they do a lot of things wrong. But I like mortals. I used to be one."

Chiron nodded. "The difference between the Olympians and the Titans is that the Titans hold no sympathy for the mortals whatsoever. The Titans plan on wiping out most of the human race and enslaving the survivors

"Tell me, how is that a golden age?"

"Um, it isn't."

"That is my argument in favor of the Olympians. Have I convinced you, or do you still wish to leave our side?"

I looked down at my shoes. Chiron had a point.

After a minute, I knew what I should do. "I'm staying. But only for the mortals. The Olympians are too messed up. I'm in this for the mortals."

Chiron looked extremely satisfied. "I thank the gods for your careful decision, Mr. Crossley. You are not the first to question the Olympians for their motives."

We stood in silence until the valet pulled up to the curb with our van.

"Finally," Chiron said. "Let's return to camp. This has been an inauspicious night."

As Chiron and I got into the van, I realized that I still didn't know who had saved me from getting killed.

"Chiron?"

"Yes?" Chiron asked, starting the engine.

"Who was that guy? The one who you and Hector recognized?"

Chiron pulled out onto the road. "You do not know who that was?"

I shook my head. "Beats me."

We stopped at a traffic light. "Mr. Crossley," Chiron began, his face looking ghostly in the red glow of the stoplight, "That was your father, Vehiclos."

**A/N: So there it is. Chapter nine! Fifty thousand words! I never thought that it would come this far! I hope that was enough action to speed up the story. Please review and offer constructive criticism! I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you! Air Force Muffin out.**


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